THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


UC<r»aA^  Ji'  v^^ 


V«>H|e' 


^¥C 


a. 


THE    BEST   WAY 


BY 


FREDERICK  H.  RINDGE 


^ 


-MM" 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED 


COPYRIGHT,  1902,  BY  FREDERICK  H.  RINDGB 


e 


©etjjcatcb  in  Hobe 

TO  WHOMSOEVER  PERADVENTURE  MAY  READ  THIS  BOOK 

TRUSTING  IT  WILL  BRING  TO  SUCH 

A  REVENUE  OF  PEACE,   HOPE 

AND  JOY 


When  the  even  was  come,  there  came  a  rich 
man  of  Arimathaea,  named  Joseph,  who  also 
himself  was  Jesus'  disciple,  an  honourable  coun- 
sellor who  waited  for  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
He  went  to  Pilate,  and  begged  the  body  of 
Jesus.  Then  Pilate  commanded  the  body  to 
be  delivered.  — Matthew  xxvii.  57,  58  ; 
Mark  xv.  43  ;  Luke  xxiii.  50,  51. 


INTRODUCTION 

Why  do  you  think  I  wrote  this  book? 
For  money?  No.  For  my  health?  No. 
For  pleasure?  No.  For  praise?  No, — 
because  if  you  gave  it  me  I  could  not  keep 
it;  for  when,  seventeen  years  ago,  I  gave 
my  heart  to  God,  He  waited  to  see  if  I  were 
sincere,  it  seemed  to  me ;  then  He  told  me 
He  wanted  me  to  work  for  Him.  I  told 
God  I  would,  and  that  I  should  give  to 
Him  all  praise  and  glory  for  whatever  I 
might  do. 

But  He  pays  me  a  commission,  —  peace 
in  the  soul.     Ah !  I  am  well  paid. 

It  was  written  with  the  hope  that  it  would 
awaken  holy  aspirations  and  strengthen  de- 
terminations to  live  for  Heaven. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Are  you  Saved  ? i 

Getting  Religion 17 

Can  a  Man  know  God  ?  .  .  .  -31 
The  Fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  Beginning 

of  Wisdom 53 

Trusting  God 71 

The  Still,  Small  Voice  of  God      .        .        87 

The  Ecstasy  of  Hope 105 

By  their  Fruits  ye  shall  know  them    .       129 

Who  was  Christ? 147 

Love  Divine 155 

A    Lost    Law,    or,   the    Perfect    Law    of 

Liberty 169 


ARE   YOU   SAVED? 

THE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    THE    NEW    BIRTH, 

OR    AN    EXPLANATION    OF    BEING 

BORN   AGAIN 


ARE   YOU   SAVED? 

THE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    THE    NEW    BIRTH,  OR   AN 
EXPLANATION    OF    BEING    BORN    AGAIN. 

The  spirit  of  man  can  penetrate  the  mys- 
tery of  faith  and  spiritual  things,  but  his 
mind  cannot  unless  it  is  aided  by  the  Spirit 
and  controlled  thereby.  Spiritual  things 
must  be  spiritually  discerned. 

"A  rational  faith  I  must  have,"  writes  a 
friend  to  me.  That  is  a  paradox.  Consider. 
Such  a  phrase  means  belief  by  the  reason  or 
by  the  mind.  Now  Christian  faith  is  some- 
thing having  its  source  in  the  spirit  and  not 
in  the  mind.  The  mind  only  falls  in  line 
when  the  spirit  leads  in  faith.  Paul  in  writ- 
ing to  Timothy  says  "  the  mystery  of  faith." 
Paul  had  no  rational  faith,  but  he  had  a 
"reasonable  service,"  which  partly  consists 
in  taking  the  word  of  God  as  it  is  given, 
and  accepting,  under  obedience,  its  teachings 
of  Heaven  and  Hell,  the  way  to  enter  one 


4  THE  BEST  WAY 

and  escape  the  other,  and  in  accepting  its 
definitions  of  faith. 

Now  we  approach  the  consideration  of  a 
spiritual  matter. 

Jesus  Christ  said  unto  Ruler  Nicodemus, 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see 
the  Kingdom  of  God." 

To  be  born  implies  the  coaction  and  con- 
junction of  two  forces  or  factors.  Remem- 
ber that  marriage  in  the  Lord  is  most  holy 
and  typifies  the  union  of  Christ  with  His 
church. 

The  new  or  second  birth  of  a  man  is  the 
result  of  God's  Spirit  coming  in  contact  with 
man's  spirit,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
latter.  God  is  always  willing  to  give  His 
Holy  Spirit  to  those  who  ask  for  it.  As  the 
fisherman  hears  the  breaking  surf  through 
the  fog  and  shapes  his  course  thereby  to  the 
unseen  shore,  so  we  steer  for  the  invisible 
shores  of  Paradise  when  we  hear  the  holy 
organ's  surge,  in  unison  with  a  divine  hymn, 
and  the  preacher's  voice  urging  us  heaven- 
ward. Aye  !  "  Faith  comes  by  hearing." 
A  man's  mind  hears  the  message  of  Christ 
to  repent  and  be  saved ;  the  soul  beneath  the 
mind  hungers  for  the  message  and  controls 


ARE  YOU   SAVED?  5 

the  will  and  lets  in  the  message  borne  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  If  the  man  keeps  that 
union  of  God's  Spirit  with  his  own,  the 
result  is,  in  due  time,  the  new  birth.  This 
time  or  period  varies.  It  is  longer  with 
some,  shorter  with  others.  The  length  de- 
pends upon  how  you  apply  yourself  to 
grow  in  grace,  or  rather  to  really  believe  in 
Christ. 

Again,  there  are  those  who,  brought  up 
from  childhood  in  the  faith  of  their  fathers, 
cannot  remember  or  discern  the  exact  time 
of  their  new  birth.  To  others  it  comes  like 
a  sudden  revelation,  so  that  they  never  can 
forget  the  date,  the  hour,  and  the  surround- 
ings. 

Now,  with  fish,  or  animals,  or  birds,  or 
with  trees,  by  pollenization,  in  all  cases  in 
fact,  a  second  factor  is  necessary  to  accom- 
plish a  birth.  The  pollen  of  one  tree  must 
reach  the  pollen  of  another  tree.  The  fish 
eggs  deposited  by  the  side  of  the  stream 
must  be  acted  upon  to  create  life. 

The  moment  the  pollen  of  one  certain  tree 
blows  upon  another,  that  moment  the  possi- 
hility  of  a  new  vital  seed  comes  into  exist- 
ence. 


6  THE   BEST  WAY 

As  in  the  beginning  God  breathed  into 
the  nostrils  of  dust-made  Adam  and  he  be- 
came a  living  soul,  so  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  touches  the  spirit  of  man  (even  though 
the  way  be  incomprehensible)/  as  the  pollen 
blows  from  tree  to  tree,  then  is  begun  to 
be  born  within  that  man  a  new  creature  in 
Christ  Jesus,  —  a  new  life.  But  remember, 
man  is  made  a  free  agent:  when  he  hears 
the  word  preached  or  is  impressed  into  con- 
viction in  any  way,  if  he  admits  God's 
Spirit  into  him,  so  that  it  can  reach  his 
spirit,  then  he  begins  to  be  born  again. 

The  moment  the  fish  eggs  deposited  by 
the  brook's  bank  become  acted  upon  by  an- 
other fish,  that  moment  a  new  life  begins; 
you  may  reach  down  into  the  water  and 
destroy  the  eggs  and  kill  the  new  life  :  you 
may  throw  a  bird's  egg  on  the  ground  and 
end  its  possibilities  of  song  and  beauty. 

When  God's  Spirit  touches  your  spirit, 
there  begins  a  new  life,  a  new  creature   in 

^  God's  peace  that  he  gives  men  "  passeth  understand- 
ing," but  we  do  know  the  way  to  get  that  peace.  So 
with  the  New  Birth,  while  we  cannot  comprehend  the 
inner  workings  of  its  method,  yet  we  know  how  it  is 
brought  about. 


ARE  YOU   SAVED?  7 

Christ ;  and  when,  after  due  time  of  growth 
in  grace,  it  is  ready  to  be  born,  behold  !  you 
are  born  again,  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus,  to  be  fertile  in  good  works.  This  is 
the  new  birth. 

Now,  while  you  have  been  reading  these 
words,  if  God's  Spirit,  the  Holy  Spirit,  has 
touched  your  spirit  in  convicting  power, 
crush  it  not;  destroy  not  the  germ  of  eternal 
life,  but  keep  it  warm  by  the  tears  of  repent- 
ance for  sins  committed  ("  all  have  sinned  "), 
feed  it  daily  with  the  grace  of  Christ  in  your 
every-day  life,  and  in  due  time  that  germ 
will  develop  and  be  born,  and  you  will  be 
that  which  is  born,  —  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Then  you  will  be  "  born  again,"  — 
born  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

When  you  are  born  again  you  will  realize 
that  you  are  born  again,  that  you  are  a  new 
man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Then  you  are  "  born 
of  the  Spirit." 

What  two  forces  coact  to  cause  the  new 
birth?  God's  Spirit  and  your  spirit.  To 
show  their  intimate  relation,  remember  the 
scripture,  "  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness 
with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God." 


8  THE  BEST  WAY 

Hold  this  explanation  of  the  philosophy 
of  the  new  birth  close  to  your  memory,  and 
whenever  the  Spirit  of  God  touches  your 
spirit,  then  will  you  understand  what  it 
means  and  you  can  the  better  be  bound  to 
God. 

The  ancient  Greeks  believed  "to  know 
thyself"  was  the  height  of  wisdom.  It  is 
great  wisdom.  But  to  rule  yourself  is 
greater.  Alfred,  the  great  king  of  England, 
dying,  called  his  son  to  him  and  said,  "  You 
will  soon  rule  England,  but  before  you  can 
rule  England,  you  must  rule  yourself" 

And  so,  knowing  yourself  in  your  relation 
to  the  new  birth,  and  ruling  yourself  by  not 
driving  away  God's  Holy  Spirit  when  He 
comes  to  bless  you,  you  can  make  a  success 
of  piety,  a  success  of  your  religion. 

Knowing  ourselves,  now  let  us  rule  our- 
selves. 

The  words  of  Christ,  "  Ye  must  be  bom 
again,"  apply  to  each  one  of  us ;  we  cannot 
escape  them,  we  do  not  want  to,  yet  they  are 
the  only  way  of  escape  we  have. 

But  some  one  says,  "  How  can  I  under- 
stand the  birth  of  the  Spirit  of  God  when  the 
scripture  says,  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it 


ARE  YOU   SAVED?  9 

listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but 
canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it 
goeth.  So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the 
Spirit."  That  is  to  say,  it  is  incomprehen- 
sible, but  the  mind  of  man  illumined  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  can  discern  and  grasp  a  truth 
hidden  in  those  words  which  will  help  us. 
You  remem.ber  the  peace  of  God  is  men- 
tioned as  "the  peace  which  passeth  under- 
standing," yet,  though  we  do  not  know,  nor 
can  we  explain  fully  that  peace,  still  we 
know  how  to  get  it,  since  it  is  the  fruit  of 
the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  given  to  those  who  obey  the 
words  of  Christ. 

It  is  so  with  being  born  again :  there  is  a 
great  truth  hidden  in  these  words  which  the 
mind  of  man  can  grasp  when  it  is  explained 
to  him. 

But  how  can  I  so  call  on  you,  friend,  who 
are  unsaved,  to  give  your  heart  to  God,  that 
you  will  be  moved  to  repentance  and  love 
for  Heaven  ?  Alas,  in  my  weakness  I  have 
but  one  hope,  to  say  as  David  said :  — 

"  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  Thy  salvation. 
Uphold  me  by  Thy  free  Spirit." 

Then  God's  Spirit  will   accompany  my 


lo  THE   BEST  WAY 

words  and  you  will  feel  that  it  is  not  only  I 
that  bear  the  message,  but  that  the  essence 
of  the  message  itself  comes  from  God. 

It  may  be,  God  will  help  me  so  to  do  by 
a  parable :  — 

Come  with  me  into  yonder  field  where 
stands  that  derrick.  They  are  boring  an 
artesian  well,  for  this  is  in  the  artesian  belt. 

"Good  morning,  sir,"  I  say,  "what  strata 
of  the  earth  has  your  drill  gone  through  ?  " 
"  Well,"  he  replies,  "  we  bored  into  the 
loam  and  a  deposit  of  clay,  then  we  struck  a 
layer  of  dry  sand,  drilled  through  hard-pan 
and  bed  rock,  and  are  now  in  the  gravel.  If 
you  stay  with  us  we  expect  soon  to  be  in  the 
water-bearing  sand." 

While  waiting,  the  foreman  explained  to 
us  that  the  waters  underlying  the  land  had 
their  source  in  the  mountains,  and  the  con- 
sequent high  pressure  forced  it  to  the  surface 
through  the  hole  made  by  the  drill. 

All  the  men's  faces  were  smiling  because 
they  knew  they  were  near  the  water.  Sud- 
denly the  drill  dropped  and  the  foreman 
called  out  to  the  engineer,  "  Reverse  your 
engine  and  hoist  away.     We  've  struck  it  I  " 

Up  came  the  drill,  and  the  limpid,  purling, 


ARE  YOU   SAVED?  ii 

cool  artesian  water  rose  to  the  top  of  the 
casing  and  flowed  over  to  bless  the  ground 
and  make  it  fertile. 

So  to-day  I  bring  you  in  love  the  glad 
tidings  that  you  will  be  safe  when  you  are 
saved,  and  I  bid  you  hasten  to  make  your 
peace  with  God.     I  know  you  understand  it. 

The  message  is  like  the  derrick's  drill. 

It  may  have  to  go  down  through  the 
stratum  of  doubt,  through  the  shale  of  a 
seared,  hardened,  deadened  conscience,  or 
through  layers  of  indifference  and  worldliness, 
or  of  temptation,  silliness,  resistance,  self-con- 
ceit, self-reliance,  hardness  of  cold  culture, 
fear  of  the  world,  or  excesses  in  business, 
fashion,  or  pleasure,  of  "  I  never  did  any 
harm,"  and  past  the  bed-rock  of  sin,  of  sins 
committed  and  unforgiven  sins,  or  of  some- 
thing else,  but  if  the  drill  is  God-sharpened, 
it  will  finally  penetrate  the  gravel  of  con- 
viction, soon  reach  the  water-bearing  sand 
of  conversion,  and  God  will  give  orders  to 
reverse  the  engine  and  hoist  away,  and  the 
living  water  of  Life  will  flow  up  to  bless 
you  forever. 

Men,  women,  and  children  I  Harken  unto 
me !     Your  souls  are  in  the  artesian  belt! 


12  THE  BEST  WAY 

And  why  does  Christ  liken  the  possession 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  a  well  of  water  within 
us  springing  up  to  eternal  life  ?  Why  does 
He  not  say  it  permeates  our  being  or  fills 
our  soul  ?  Is  it  not  that  its  source  is  in 
Heaven,  just  as  the  source  of  the  artesian 
well  water  is  higher  in  the  mountains  ? 

Are  we  saved  *?  Comrade,  are  you  saved  ? 
Do  you  have  a  dread  of  death  and  a  fear  of 
Hell,  and  a  lack  of  assurance  that  if  you 
should  die  to-night  you  could  escape  Hell 
and  enter  Heaven  ? 

Behold  that  sinking  steamer  and  the  fran- 
tic passengers  called  to  meet  their  God  with- 
out an  hour's  warning.  The  lifeboats  can 
never  be  launched  in  such  a  sea.  Look,  there 
are  people  praying  to  God  who  never  prayed 
before,  and  who  had  denied  the  power  of 
prayer.  They  foolishly  and  against  their 
interest  thought  it  was  too  much  trouble  to 
pray.  See  them  there!  face  to  face  with 
death  and  unprepared ;  the  need  of  the  soul 
asserts  itself  and  they  pray.  It  is  natural 
to  pray.  It  is  unnatural  not  to.  When  you 
do  not  feel  in  the  element  of  prayer,  be 
afraid. 

Oh.  turn  to-night !  There  is  a  power  right 


ARE  YOU   SAVED?  13 

by  your  side  that  will  take  away  your  sins, 
save  you,  and  satisfy  your  longing  for  peace 
and  rest  in  Christ.  There  is  a  present  power 
on  earth  to  save  us  from  our  sins.  That 
power  is  the  willingness  of  God  to  save  you 
and  forgive  you  if  you  will  only  have  sorrow 
for  your  sins  and  take  God  as  your  God, 
Christ  as  your  Master,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  your  Comforter. 

Oh,  won't  you  turn  to-night  and  be 
freed  from  the  power  of  sin  *?  Ah,  then  you 
remember  the  pit  from  which  you  were  dug 
and  rejoice  in  your  salvation.  Ah  yes !  we 
were  all  dug  from  a  pit,  we  who  have  known 
the  saving  power  of  God  through  Christ. 
Your  pit  may  have  been  shallow  and  mine 
deep,  yet  yours  was  a  pit  nevertheless.  It  is 
wrong  not  to  trust  God,  not  to  give  Him 
your  heart.  Though  you  may  be  pure  and 
honest,  yet  are  you  Christ's?  Have  you  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit  that  you  are  a  child  of 
God  ?  Oh,  be  not  deceived  by  cold  culture 
and  being  an  honorable  citizen.  Those  are 
the  rocks  on  which  many  eternal  wrecks 
have  come. 

Are  you  deep  in  a  pit  of  sin  *?  Be  of 
good  cheer.     I  know  whereof  I  speak,  and 


14  THE  BEST  WAY 

God  can  reach  to  the  bottom  and  lift  you 
out.  His  arm  is  long  and  His  heart  full  of 
sympathy  and  mercy.  Call  up  to  Him  and 
see  I 

Be  sorry  for  what  you  have  done  that  is 
wrong,  turn  from  your  sins  and  do  good  and 
right,  and  God  will  put  joy  in  your  heart, 
make  your  life  beautiful,  and  give  you  a 
passport  into  Heaven  and  a  deliverance  from 
Hell. 

Jesus  loves  children.  He  said,  "  Suffer 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  for  of  such 
is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven."  Children !  be- 
hold your  Master,  Christ  Jesus.  Love  Him, 
God's  teacher;  and  He  will  never  leave  nor 
forsake  you. 

The  time  is  passing  away.  This  hour  is 
closing.  If  the  Spirit  of  God  has  touched 
our  spirit,  let  us  hold  fast  that  which  we  have 
experienced,  and  go  forth  keeping  that  holy 
thing  in  our  hearts,  not  talking  about  it,  but 
doing  like  Mary,  who  kept  these  things  in 
her  heart  and  did  not  tell  her  neighbors.  So 
keep  warm  your  faith  in  God,  read  daily  the 
words  of  Christ,  go  where  you  can  be  helped 
heavenward,  and  in  due  time  God  will  say, 
*'  Let  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so,"  and 


ARE  YOU   SAVED?  15 

then  you  will  be  strong  enough  to  work  for 
God,  and  in  Christian  work  there  is  always 
room  at  the  bottom  as  well  as  at  the  top  of 
the  ladder. 


GETTING  RELIGION 


GETTING  RELIGION 

Getting  religion  is  like  securing  an  edu- 
cation ;  you  get  something  you  did  not  have 
before. 

There  is  a  certain  mystery  about  it,  be- 
cause some  of  the  greatest  gifts  that  God  has 
given  to  man  He  has  surrounded  with  mys- 
tery, for  He  knows  well  the  mind  of  man 
and  that  he  most  esteems  and  stands  in  awe 
of  that  which  he  cannot  fully  comprehend, 
but  understands  well  enough  to  realize  its 
blessing  and  to  make  use  of  it.  Let  him 
fully  grasp  it  and  make  it  himself,  he  dis- 
owns it  and  passes  on,  seeking  other  things 
to  conquer.  But  the  religion  of  Christianity, 
God  has  declared,  shall  not  pass  away,  but 
forever  remain  the  system  of  eternal  life. 

So  Paul  says  of  "  the  mystery  of  faith ;  " 
namely,  faith  is  a  mysterious  thing  which  can 
bless  a  man,  but  the  workings  of  which  are 
above  his  complete  comprehension,  as  God 
meant  them  to  be,  to  hold  him  ever  to  its 


20  THE  BEST  WAY 

benefits.  So  is  life  itself,  and  electricity.  So, 
too,  the  peace  which  passeth  understanding; 
that  blessing  is  beyond  our  grasp,  but  we  still 
know  how  to  get  it,  and  how  to  enjoy  it.  So, 
too,  the  book  of  Revelation,  which  is  the  last 
chapter  in  the  Book  of  Life  and  Death, 
instead  of  summing  up  all  that  has  gone 
before,  like  earthly  books,  prophetically  gives 
us  glimpses  of  the  future  to  delight  us  with 
its  promises  and  awe  us  with  incomprehen- 
sible statements.  This  book  is  a  blessed  mys- 
tery. 

Thus  religion,  and  life,  and  electricity,  and 
faith,  hope,  love,  and  peace,  are  some  of  the 
mysteries  which  bless  mankind. 

Religion  is  a  mystery,  so  ordained  of  God 
to  create  awe,  which,  makes  man  heed  it  in 
reverence,  because,  if  he  understood  it  per- 
fectly, his  nature  is  such  he  would  feel  too 
independent  to  worship  God. 

Yet  religion,  like  peace,  is  to  be  obtained, 
and  we  know  how  to  get  it :  it  can  be  grasped 
by  the  mind  and  put  in  practice. 

Let  us  consider  this  theme  to-day. 

When  a  man  realizes  that  God  is  calling 
him  to  repent  and  to  lead  the  right  life  in 
Christ,  he  feels  that  his  duty  is  to  obey,  to 


GETTING  RELIGION  21 

have  faith  in  God  and  to  do  the  words  of 
Christ.  Believing  is  believing,  but  faith  is 
believing  /«,  and  going  ahead.  A  man  says 
he  believes  in  life  insurance,  but  does  not  get 
his  life  insured.  Another  says  he  does  and 
goes  and  gets  a  policy.  One  believed  in  it, 
the  other  had  faith  in  it. 

What  is  getting  religion  like  ?  It  is  as  when 
on  a  cold  autumn  day  you  are  sitting  and 
resting  from  the  hunt  on  a  hillside,  and  there 
is  a  passing  cloud  between  you  and  the  sun; 
suddenly  or  gradually  the  sun  bursts  out  of 
the  cloud  and  sheds  its  warmth  on  you. 

If  you  wish  to  get  religion,  go  back  to  the 
faith  of  a  little  child,  to  which  Christ  likens 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  If  you  ask  God's 
forgiveness  and  seek  His  Holy  Spirit,  there 
will  be  no  trouble  about  your  doubts,  your 
sins,  your  feelings,  or  any  such  matters ; 
make  your  faith  like  a  little  child,  and  those 
great  black  doubts  will  turn  white  as  snow 
by  the  power  of  God  through  Christ. 

"  But  I  can't  believe  as  a  little  child,"  some 
one  says.  But  you  can  if  you  ask  God  to 
help  you,  and  so  believe  and  are  sincere. 
Keep  on  asking  until  you  receive.  We 
sometimes  think  we  are  sincere  when  we  are 


22  THE   BEST  WAY 

not.     Keep  working  at  this  sincerity  until 
you  are  really  sincere. 

Ask  God  to  come  to  you  and  pray  to  Him 
to  help  you  know  Him  for  yourself,  so  that 
you  can  know  His  still  small  voice,  that  won- 
derful "  symbol  of  humility  "  and  know  from 
Him  the  way  you  should  go.  The  still  small 
voice  is  so  still,  yet  it  is  audible  to  the  soul. 
Sound  travels  slowly,  the  flash  of  the  cannon 
is  seen  before  the  sound  is  heard.  The  throne 
of  God  in  distant  Heaven  is  far  away,  so  is 
it  not  to  be  expected  that  when  the  voice 
of  God  reaches  us,  the  sound  of  it  shall  be 
soft  and  low  *?  When  the  lightning  flashes 
near  us,  the  loud  report  follows  quickly 
after,  but  when  the  lightning  is  far  away,  it 
is  a  long  time  before  the  sound  of  it  reaches 
our  ears,  and  then  it  is  soft  and  low.  In 
Heaven,  I  fancy,  the  senses  of  the  redeemed 
are  commensurate  with  the  greatness  of  the 
New  Jerusalem.  Our  present  eyes  and  ears 
could  not  endure  what  is  in  store  for  the 
faithful,  yet  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  rejoice 
in  their  redemption  powers  and  capacities. 

What  would  you  think,  and  how  would 
you  like  it,  if  you  could  know  and  be  satis- 
fied that  God  spoke  to  you  and  assured  you 


GETTING   RELIGION  23 

of  a  home  in  Heaven  and  an  escape  from 
Hell  *?     You  can  know  these  things. 

Pray  to  Him,  "  Come,  Lord,  come.  Lord, 
reveal  Thyself  to  me,  that  I  may  know  Thy 
way  and  my  way  that  I  should  go." 

Last  summer  I  met  a  little  boy,  barefoot, 
peaked,  and  hungry,  in  the  Union  Station, 
Boston.  He  asked  me  for  five  cents  to  get 
some  food  with,  as  he  had  had  nothing  to 
eat.  I  said,  "  Do  you  know  God  ?  "  "  Yes, 
He  is  my  Father,"  was  the  quick  reply. 
"Where  does  He  live?"  "In  Heaven," 
was  the  answer,  which  came  with  eyes  and 
a  voice  full  of  simple,  childlike  faith.  That 
kind  of  faith  is  what  is  going  to  get  us  into 
Heaven.  His  faith  was  full  of  assurance ; 
he  knew. 

Doctor  Guthrie  was  dying;  he  asked  to 
have  a  hymn  sung.  "What  shall  we  sing*?" 
they  asked.  "  Sing  a  bairn's  hymn,"  he  said. 
So  they  sang,  — 

"  Gentle  Jesus,  meek  and  mild. 
Look  upon  a  little  child." 

If  you  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  you 
must  be  like  a  little  child;  simplicity  and 
sincerity  of  faith  must  be  yours. 

There  are  two  present  benefits  of  getting 


24  THE  BEST  WAY 

religion,  or,  rather,  of  having  it.  The  first  is, 
if  Satan  ever  tempts  you  to  get  blue,  imme- 
diately call  in  religion  to  the  rescue.  "  Have 
regard  to  the  recompense  of  the  reward." 
That  cheers  us  up.  Then,  with  this  advan- 
tage gained,  call  on  God  for  help  to  drive 
Satan  and  his  depression  away,  and  soon  an 
angel  of  light  will  suffuse  you  with  the  warm 
light  of  the  heavenly  presence  and  the  dark- 
ness will  fliee  away. 

The  other  is  this.  Do  the  faces  or  names 
of  those  you  have  wronged  or  misjudged 
often  come  before  your  mind  like  accusing 
witnesses  to  disturb  your  peace?  Do  you 
seize  an  unwholesome  novel  or  seek  un- 
worthy excitement  to  drive  away  such  con- 
demning thoughts  ?  There  is  a  better  way. 
Confess  your  sins  to  God  in  repentance,  tell 
Him  you  will  do  differently  henceforth. 
Tell  or  write  the  person  or  persons  whom 
you  have  wronged,  and  lo !  if  told  in  repent- 
ance, the  accusing  sorrow  will  leave  your 
life,  and  Christ  will  be  a  hiding  and  resting 
place  more  precious  to  you  than  a  novel  or 
excitement,  although  these,  when  good  and 
wholesome,  have  their  places  in  life. 

Ah  I  if  you  want  to  get  away  from  your- 


GETTING  RELIGION  25 

self,  get  away  from  yourself  in  Christ,  —  not 
in  unwholesomeness.  The  Christ  exchange 
is  the  best  bargain. 

If  you  get  religion,  God  and  Christ  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  will  make  something  out  of 
you,  ordinary  one !  What  do  you  amount 
to,  without  God?  Great  one,  you  don't 
amount  to  much  now,  pc-haps,  in  God's 
sight,  but  Christ  will  make  something  out  of 
you,  —  something  worth  being;  you  will 
amount  to  something  then. 

In  Boston,  the  other  day,  I  entered  a  store 
to  buy  a  picture  of  Longfellow's  home.  The 
little  old  maid  that  sold  the  picture  had 
neither  health,  nor  beauty,  nor  abundance, 
nor  height,  nor  fine  clothing,  nor  jewels  to 
make  her  appear  better ;  yet  she  had  an 
appearance  which  commanded  respect  and 
reverence.  She  had  Christ  in  her  eye,  God 
was  apparent  in  her  very  presence,  just  as 
Virgil  used  to  say  of  Juno,  "  The  goddess 
was  apparent  by  her  walk." 

This  little  woman  I  saw  amounted  to 
something,  was  a  power  for  good  in  the 
world,  and  had  a  source  of  happiness  to  her- 
self and  to  others;  yet  of  herself,  without 
religion,  you  would  have  passed  her  by  un- 


26  THE  BEST  WAY 

noticed,  or  bought  the  picture  scarcely  real- 
izing she  was  there.  I  thought  to  myself, 
"Well,  God  has  made  something  out  of 
you,  surely." 

Friends,  let  God  make  something  out  of 
us.     Getting  religion  does  it. 

"Many  arc  called,  but  few  are  chosen," 
makes  you  stumble;  you  think  you  are 
not  called  and  are  discouraged.  But  listen  : 
the  explanation  of  this  is  that  we  are  all 
called  to  do  the  will  of  God,  but,  as  we  see 
plainly  enough,  comparatively  few  meet  the 
requirements  and  complete  their  obedience 
to  the  words  of  Christ.  It  is  not  that  God 
is  partial  to  a  few  and  selects  them,  but  it 
is  that  few  prove  themselves  worthy  to  be 
chosen,  and  so  are  chosen.  We  all  have  an 
equal  chance. 

As  an  illustration,  consider  the  exhibit  of 
the  Royal  Academy  in  London.  Many 
artists  paint  pictures  and  exhibit  their  abili- 
ties, but  comparatively  few  out  of  the  num- 
ber receive  the  prizes. 

Blame  not  God,  but  arise  to  the  work, 
knowing  that  He  will  help  the  helpless,  that 
the  poor  in  spirit  are  blessed,  and  that  He  is 
not  willing  that  one  should  be  lost. 


GETTING   RELIGION  27 

A  man  takes  hold  of  the  handles  of  an 
electric  battery  and  receives  a  shock  into  his 
hands  and  arms;  he  cannot  see  it,  yet  he 
feels  it. 

So  the  soul  has  feeling:  when  it  receives 
hope  from  God,  when  it  receives  divine  for- 
giveness in  return  for  repentance  and  faith, 
the  soul  feels  the  power  and  facts  of  hope 
and  forgiveness.  A  man  cannot  see  it,  but 
he  can  feel  it.  It  is  as  real  as  the  battery 
shock. 

A  man  standing  by  the  battery  who  had 
not  tried  it  might  say,  "  You  did  not  receive 
any  shock."  So  a  man  who  knew  not  the 
power  of  God  to  save  and  who  had  never 
tried  it,  might  say,  "  You  have  not  received 
salvation.  It  is  all  fancy.  You  have  not 
become  reconciled  to  God.  You  do  not 
feel  your  sins  are  forgiven." 

Yet  both  experiences  were  real  and  true. 

Comrade,  I  speak  to  your  soul !  I  do  not 
come  to  condemn  you,  but  to  bring  you 
good  news,  glad  tidings  of  great  joy;  that 
there  is  a  present  power  in  the  world,  aye, 
right  by  your  side,  which  if  you  invoke  will 
put  your  sins  far  away  from  you  and  leave 
peace  and   salvation  in  their  stead.     That 


28  THE  BEST  WAY 

power  is  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ 
unto  divine  forgiveness.  I  come  not  to  con- 
demn you,  but  to  tell  you  that  there  is  only 
a  door  between  you  and  eternal  life,  and  that 
I  know  where  the  key  is,  and  I  have  come  to 
tell  you  so  you  can  go  and  get  it  and  enter 
in.  The  door  is  Christ,  and  the  key  is  repent- 
ance. 

Be  sorry  for  your  sins ;  resolve  you  will, 
with  God's  help,  leave  them  and  follow  His 
way,  that  you  may  be  blessed;  and  your 
mourning  shall  turn  to  joy,  your  night  to 
day,  and  despondency  to  hope !  Turn  ye, 
turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die  ? 

There  is  right  by  your  side  a  power  to 
take  away  your  sins,  be  they  great  or  be  they 
small. 

Is  there  any  truth  in  the  Bible  ? 

Is  it  a  fact,  this  immortality  of  the  soul  ? 

Is  there  a  Heaven  and  a  Hell  ? 

The  oldest  books  in  the  world  say  so. 

These  books  explain  creation,  foretell 
what  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  future,  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  give  such  an  accurate 
picture  of  man  that  we  see  in  it  ourselves, 
and  wonder ! 

But  stay.     Is  this  terrible  uncertainty  of 


GETTING   RELIGION  29 

the  future  for  our  own  selves  to  be  solved  *? 
Yes,  religion  solves  it,  through  Christ.  That 
solution  of  uncertainty  alone  is  worth  attend- 
ing to  the  demands  of  God  and  His  com- 
mands. 

One  wonderful  thing  about  getting  the 
religion  of  Christ  is  that  it  solves  the  prob- 
lem of  eternity.  There  comes  at  times  to 
every  man's  mind  a  wondering  about  the 
next  world,  whether  there  is  any  existence 
after  death,  or  if  death  is  the  end.  If  we 
believe  in  Christ  and  seek  to  do  His  words, 
this  curiosity  is  satisfied,  and  we  know  to  our 
satisfaction  that  there  is  an  existence  after 
death  and  that  we  cannot  escape  it  any  more 
than  we  can  escape  death.  When  we  have 
reached  that  stage  in  faith,  then  we  are  ac- 
tively concerned  to  see  if  we  can  cultivate 
ourselves  for  Heaven,  that  we  may  surely 
escape  Hell. 

Our  home  above  is  bright  and  fair. 
The  angels  now  are  singing  there. 
And  through  the  clear  translucent  air 
The  praise  of  God  sounds  everywhere. 

Blessed  religion  !  by  it  we  know  how  to 
steer  our  course  in  everyday  life,  it  helps  us 
to  rise  above  temptations,  it  keeps  us  out  of 


30  THE  BEST  WAY 

countless  quarrels  and  troubles,  it  bids  us  not 
to  judge  others  and  so  keep  peace,  it  bids  us 
not  to  take  anything  that  does  not  belong  to 
us,  which  would  make  us  poorer  instead  of 
richer.  Blessed  religion !  It  is  divine  help 
to  human  helplessness.  It  is  divine  foresight 
to  guide  human  shortsightedness. 
Have  you  got  religion? 


CAN  A  MAN   KNOW   GOD? 


CAN  A  MAN  KNOW  GOD? 

Can  a  man  know  God  ?  Yes,  a  man  can 
know  God  provided  he  tries  to  find  Him 
and  does  the  preliminary  work  and  study 
required.  By  study  I  mean  the  appHcation 
to  his  task  which  is  necessary.  He  must 
obey  the  words  of  Christ  out  of  a  heart  made 
wilhngly  and  longingly  obedient  through 
fear  of  God  and  love  of  God,  after  being 
very  sorry  for  sins  committed,  to  that  extent 
that  he  resolutely  determines  that  he  will  sin 
no  more.    The  Bible  becomes  his  text-book. 

Can  a  man  get  a  degree  of  doctor  of  phi- 
losophy at  Harvard  University  ?  Yes,  if  he 
pursues  the  curriculum  laid  down  and  ap- 
plies himself  to  the  task  and  so  strives  that 
he  is  able  to  pass  the  examinations. 

So,  in  knowing  God,  a  man  has  to  pass  ex- 
aminations before  he  gets  his  degree.  God's 
Spirit  will  in  love  seek  to  see  if  he  knows 
how  to  forgive  his  enemy  and  so  does ;  His 
Spirit  or  God  Himself  will  in  love  observe 


34  THE  BEST  WAY 

how  he  stands  on  points  of  purity,  unselfish- 
ness, long-suffering,  and  humility.  If  he  can 
pass  the  examination  and  is  not  found  want- 
ing, lo,  he  gets  his  degree  as  one  who  knows 
God. 

The  man  who  took  his  degree  of  doctor 
of  philosophy  at  Harvard  looks  back  to  the 
days  of  his  primer  and  finds  the  alphabet  and 
multiplication  table  were  as  fundamentally 
necessary  to  his  high  learning  as  were  eventu- 
ally the  classics  and  logarithms.  So,  in  the 
pursuit  of  a  knowledge  of  God,  the  simple 
faith  of  a  little  child  is  as  fundamentally  re- 
quisite as  is  an  understanding  of  regeneration 
and  justification  by  faith. 

He  who  begins  to  seek  to  acquire  a  full 
knowledge  of  God  should  not  despise  the 
day  of  small  things,  and  should  not  forget 
that  in  mastering  one  little  fault  he  perhaps 
strengthens  the  one  weak  stone  in  his  founda- 
tion ;  the  overcoming  of  that  little  fault  may 
be  the  sine  qua  non  of  his  success  in  finding 
God.  Can  one  be  bright  in  logarithms  who 
stumbles  in  arithmetic  *?  Ah,  this  point  is  a 
place  where  many  a  one  stumbles. 

Another  stumbling  point  with  some  is  this. 
One  says,  "  How  can  I  be  sorry  for  sins  when 


CAN   A   MAN   KNOW   GOD?  35 

my  life  has  been  good  *?  I  have  been  pure 
and  honest."  Has  your  heart  been  always 
so  good  ?  God  says,  "  Give  me  thy  hearty 
He  also  says,  "As  a  man  thinketh  in  his 
heart,  so  is  he."  Have  you  always  been  for- 
giving, unresentful,  pure,  unselfish,  full  of 
faith  in  Christ,  and  very  humble  in  your 
heart?  Do  you  not  need  a  new  heart? 
When  we  are  told  to  follow  Christ,  it  means 
we  are  to  be  Christlike.  Ah,  now  we  see  we 
have  all  committed  sin  and  can  indeed  be 
desperately  sorry  for  having  done  wrong, 
realize  that  we  need  a  new  heart,  and  can  cry 
out  of  a  sincere  heart,  "  What  must  I  do  to 
be  saved?"  If  you  had  been  differently 
born,  you  might  have  been  a  greater  sinner. 
But  something  more  than  a  determination 
to  lead  a  new  life  is  necessary.  For  what 
shall  we  do  with  the  sins  of  the  past  which 
come  up  in  our  memory  to  accuse  and  con- 
demn us  ?  Ah,  we  need  a  Saviour  tor  those 
sins,  we  need  salvation  and  forgiveness  be- 
fore we  can  go  on  to  a  further  knowledge  of 
God.  This  forgiveness  Christ  supplies;  if 
we  believe  in  Him  and  sincerely  pray  for 
forgiveness,  He  will  do  as  we  ask  and  put 
our  sins  of  the  past  away  from  us  as  far  as 


36  THE  BEST   WAY 

Boston  is  from  Los  Angeles :  we  shall  also 
be  satisfied  that  we  are  forgiven. 

A  determination  to  lead  a  new  life  with- 
out getting  our  sins  forgiven  is  not  enough. 
It  will  prevent  us  getting  our  degree  which 
will  admit  us  to  the  higher  education  of 
Heaven.  We  must  have  our  past  forgiven. 
Otherwise  it  would  be  like  the  oft  used  simile 
of  a  man  who  owed  a  debt  to  his  grocer. 
He  made  up  his  mind  he  would  stop  buy- 
ing on  credit  and  would  pay  his  bills  as  he 
went  along.  So  he  went  to  the  grocer  and 
said,  "  Here,  sir,  I  want  to  pay  for  these  goods 
I  bought  to-day,  and  hereafter  I  mean  to  pay 
each  time  I  buy.  I  have  repented  of  my 
slipshod  way  of  doing  business  and  we  will 
start  on  a  new  basis  from  this  day."  And  he 
turned  to  go  out  the  door  and  leave  the  store. 
But  the  grocer  called  out  to  him,  "  Say,  hold 
on,  how  about  that  old  debt  you  owe  me  ? 
You  have  not  paid  that ! " 

Ah,  there  is  the  trouble  !  Before  we  can 
advance  to  a  knowledge  of  God  we  must 
get  our  debt  of  sin  paid.  Before  we  can  get 
further  credit  from  God  we  must  settle  with 
Him  first.  "  Christ  paid  the  debt  and  set  us 
free."     Oh,  get  Christ  so  you  can  be  free. 


CAN   A   MAN   KNOW   GOD?  37 

"  Whoever  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out,"  saith  the  Saviour. 

Some  there  are  who  seek  to  smother  and 
to  press  down  out  of  sight  and  remembrance 
certain  wrongs  they  have  done,  and  seek  to 
build  upon  such  a  foundation  a  complete 
Christian  character.  They  do  not  succeed 
very  well,  because  their  foundation  has  a  flaw 
in  it;  they  are  a  little  false  because  their 
foundation  is  a  little  false,  in  that  they  have 
not  been  duly  forgiven  nor  have  they  con- 
fessed to  those  they  have  wronged.  They 
should  undo  the  wrong  done  by  confessing 
to  God  and  to  those  they  have  wronged. 
Then  their  foundation  would  be  true  and 
they  would  be  complete. 

Such  a  one  seeks  to  get  away  from  him- 
self or  herself  Ah  !  that  is  impossible  :  but 
by  repentance,  confession,  and  forgiveness 
divine  we  can  get  ourselves  right  so  that  we 
will  not  want  to  get  away  from  ourselves. 

Oh,  seek  not  to  get  away  from  yourself  in 
the  depths  of  a  sin-stained  novel ;  when  the 
book  is  ended,  lo !  you  yourself  are  there. 
Seek  rather  to  lose  yourself  in  the  service  of 
God,  and  then  God  will  dwell  in  you,  and 
you  will  love  yourself  and  your  own  com- 
pany. 


38  THE  BEST  WAY 

To  advance  in  a  knowledge  of  God  we 
must  be  fully  satisfied  about  our  past  and 
our  future ;  then  if  our  present  is  in  harmony 
with  God  and  His  laws,  the  past  and  future 
do  not  scare  us. 

Almost  all  men  believe  in  a  Hell,  or 
rather  they  fear  what  Eternity  may  hold ;  but 
knowing  God  well  takes  away  that  fear  of 
Eternity. 

In  the  Hawaiian  Islands  is  a  great  cliff 
called  the  Pali;  on  the  tableland  of  which 
this  cliff  is  the  edge  there  was  once  a  fierce 
battle.  One  army  drove  another  over  the 
cliff,  and  a  multitude  fell  to  their  death  over 
the  steep  precipice.  For  a  generation  peo- 
ple used  to  go  out  there  to  the  base  of  the 
cliff  to  see  the  great  pile  of  bleached  human 
bones  that  bore  witness  to  the  awful  fight. 
Now  in  Santa  Monica  there  is  a  high  bluff, 
and  very  steep.  I  have  often  seen  despond- 
ent people  sitting  near  the  edge  of  this  cliff, 
and  I  would  sometimes  ask  myself  what  it 
was  that  kept  these  people  from  just  falling 
oflf  that  bluff  and  kiUing  themselves  ?  Why 
was  it  that  there  was  not  a  pile  of  human 
bones  at  its  base  just  as  there  was  beneath 
the  Pali  ?     Ah,  I  knew  it  was  the  dread  of 


CAN  A   MAN   KNOW  GOD?  39 

Hell.  Walking  one  day  along  the  bluff 
with  a  man,  I  asked  him  the  same  question ; 
his  reply  was,  "  It  is  the  fear  of  Eternity." 
But,  blessed  be  God,  Christ  and  a  know- 
ledge of  God  takes  away  the  fear  of  Eternity, 
and  in  its  place  puts  a  love  for  and  a  confi- 
dence in  our  long  home. 

That  is  one  reason  why  it  is  good  to  know 
God. 

Some  one  says,  "  Oh,  it  is  too  much  trouble, 
this  knowing  God  for  yourself"  Do  not 
deceive  yourself  Is  it  too  much  trouble  to 
step  off  the  track  upon  the  approach  of  an 
express  train?  Is  it  too  much  trouble  to 
put  on  a  life  preserver  when  the  ship  is  sink- 
ing *?  And  those  precautions  are  to  save  you 
only  for  the  few  remaining  years  on  earth. 
Christ  is  the  life  preserver  forever.  And  He 
saves  you  against  trouble  and  sorrow  here  all 
your  life  as  well  as  against  eternal  Hell. 

Sometimes  we  think  it  too  much  trouble 
to  pray.  A  father  said  to  his  son,  "  Did  you 
say  your  prayers,  son  *?  "  "  No,  father,  but  I 
was  just  going  to." 

There  was  a  certain  youth  seventeen  years 
old  who  had  a  rifle.  Two  younger  lads 
looked   up  to   him  with  great  admiration. 


40  THE  BEST   WAY 

He  was  their  hero.  So  they  were  kind  to 
him  and  did  what  he  said,  and  cultivated  him 
in  order  that  he  would  take  them  hunting. 
It  was  not  so  much  their  duty  to  be  kind  to 
him  as  it  was  to  their  interest;  it  was  a  priv- 
ilege to  go  hunting,  so  it  was  a  privilege  to 
cultivate  him. 

So,  also,  we  should  be  kind  towards  God 
and  do  what  He  says,  and  give  Him  praise 
and  prayer  and  cultivate  His  way,  that  we 
may  enjoy  the  blessings  He  alone  has  to 
give.  We  should  not  look  at  it  so  much  as 
a  duty,  but  rather  as  a  privilege. 

Another  youth  with  a  rifle  could  be  found, 
but  there  is  only  one  God  to  know  and  to 
reward  us. 

"Too  much  trouble  to  know  God?" 
"  Too  much  trouble  ?  "  when  knowing  Him 
takes  away  the  fear  of  Hell  and  saves  you 
from  the  eternal  fires  thereof?  Away  with 
the  words ! 

Good  versus  Evil.  It  is  the  present  battle. 
You  have  to  take  one  side  or  the  other. 
There  is  no  middle  ground.  You  must  de- 
cide to  serve  God  and  to  know  Him,  or  else 
you  will  drift,  drift,  drift,  into  the  seas  of 
Satan,  and  get  so  near  him  you  will  know 


CAN  A   MAN   KNOW  GOD?  41 

him^  and  drift  about  so  constantly  that  you 
will  become  waterlogged  in  sin  and  sink  into 
the  eternal  depths.     Oh,  turn  I 

Will  it  pay  to  know  God?     Yes. 

Why  am  I  here  to  reach  your  hearts 
to-day  *?  For  my  health  *?  No.  For  money  *? 
No.  For  praise  ?  No ;  because  if  you  gave 
it  to  me  I  would  not  keep  it.  Many  years 
ago  I  gave  my  heart  to  God.  And  I  told 
Him  that  whatever  I  did  for  Him,  or  accom- 
plished through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
I  would  take  no  glory  for  myself.  So  when 
I  receive  cheques  of  praise  or  applause,  I 
endorse  them  over  to  Him  and  He  pays  me 
a  commission  of  peace  in  the  soul.  And  I 
am  well  paid,  and  oh,  so  well  satisfied.  It 
is  amply  sufficient. 

But  why  am  I  here  ?  Because  it  is  my 
duty.  Because  having  been  delivered  from 
the  fear  of  death,  and  having  come  to  know 
God  for  myself,  I  come  to  bring  the  good 
tidings  of  great  joy  to  others,  that  they  may 
find  the  same  blessings  and  know  God  for 
themselves.     Would  I  be  right  to  be  silent? 

To  know  God  we  must  get  near  Him, 
near  His  heart :  by  doing  His  Son's  words 
we  can  get  near  Him.     They  are  not  so 


42  THE  BEST  WAY 

many  but  that  we  can  learn  them.  Once  in 
a  meeting,  after  a  testimony  by  a  Mr.  Hem- 
ingway, who  to  my  great  delight  had  recently 
given  his  heart  to  God,  I  asked  for  the  sing- 
ing of  the  best  hymn  in  the  book.  "  Nearer 
my  God  to  Thee  "  was  proposed  and  sung. 
Yes,  that  is  the  best  way  to  know  God,  — 
get  nearer  and  nearer  to  Him. 

If  we  know  God,  God  will  make  Himself 
known  to  us.  We  can  understand  His  mind 
in  large  measure.  We  can  realize  to  our 
satisfaction  that  He  speaks  to  us  in  "the 
still,  small  voice,"  that  best  symbol  of  humil- 
ity, as  it  has  been  said.  We  can  be  satisfied 
in  our  own  consciousness  that  He  is  lead- 
ing us.     We  can  be  conscious  o{  xh.2X.fact. 

If  we  know  God,  we  know  we  are  heirs  to 
a  great  inheritance,  that  we  have  a  mansion 
in  the  skies,  that  everything  works  to  our 
good  under  a  divine  Master's  foresight,  and 
that  angels  encamp  around  us  to  protect  us 
from  harm. 

If  we  know  God,  we  are  kept  out  of  trou- 
bles so  dreadful  that  this  fact  alone  is  worth 
our  best  endeavor  to  find  Him. 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  preacher  used  to 
ask,  "  Have  you  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  that 


CAN  A  MAN   KNOW  GOD? 


43 


you  are  a  child  of  God?"  If  some  one 
said  "  No,"  the  reply  was,  "  Then  you  are 
a  child  of  the  devil."  That  was  wrong, 
because  there  are  those  who  are  servants  of 
God,  without  being  children  of  God.  There 
are  those  who  believe  in  Christ  enough  to 
keep  them  from  committing  great  sins,  who 
are  not  yet  sufficiently  advanced  in  their  edu- 
cation, their  growth  in  grace,  to  put  them 
in  the  advanced  class  of  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness, to  get  akin  to  Christ.  Oh !  why  do  so 
much  without  getting  full  wages,  which  you 
could  secure  if  you  only  did  a  little  more  ? 
The  wages  God  gives  are  righteously  com- 
parative, and  methinks  they  increase  in  great 
jumps  the  nearer  we  get  to  the  glory  of 
complete  obedience,  to  the  sacred  place 
where  every  thought  is  brought  into  cap- 
tivity to  the  obedience  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  lest  we  seem  to  assume  too  much,  let 
us  see  whether  in  the  olden  time  there  were 
those  who  knew  God,  and  that  He  was. 

Listen  unto  Job  :  "  I  know  that  my  Re- 
deemer liveth." 

And  unto  God  through  David  :  "  Be  still 
and  know  that  I  am  God." 

And  unto  God  through  Jeremiah :  "  Was 


44  THE  BEST  WAY 

not  this  to  know  me  ?  saith  the  Lord."  And 
again  from  the  same  sources :  "  For  they 
shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least  of  them 
unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the  Lord." 
See  also  Hebrews  viii.  1 1 . 

Listen  unto  God  through  Hosea  :  "  Thou 
shalt  know  the  Lord." 

Listen  unto  Paul :  "  I  know  whom  I  have 
believed." 

Listen  unto  John :  "  We  know  that  we 
know  Him,"  etc. 

But  while  remembering  these  evidences 
let  us  not  forget  that,  as  Paul  says,  "  I  know 
nothing  by  myself"  That  is,  things  that 
were  once  incomprehensible  to  our  minds, 
now  by  the  power  of  the  attained  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  become  knowable. 

Says  one,  "  If  you  know  Him,  why  don't 
I"?"  Because  you  have  not  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

And  we  need  not  stop  with  Paul.  Each 
century  has  its  heroes  of  the  faith  who  knew 
God,  great  men  and  unknown  men,  down 
from  Paul,  down,  down,  down  to  the  doors 
of  our  time  and  verily  into  the  witnessing 
voices  of  many  now  alive.  Hallelujah  I 
Amen !     To  the  end  of  time  I 


CAN  A  MAN   KNOW  GOD?  45 

Let  us  realize  the  goodness  of  the  great- 
ness of  peace  with  God,  which  comes  from 
knowing  Him.  Let  us  be  largely  content 
with  such  knowledge.  Let  us  not  entirely 
give  up  our  lives  to  nervously  seeking  to 
obtain  many  things  that  strangle  the  spirit. 
If  the  "  many  things  "  are  to  be  ours  from 
God  they  will  come  to  us,  not  in  nervousness, 
but  in  calmness.  Oh  yes !  in  contentment 
there  is  great  gain.  It  is  a  ten  per  cent,  pro- 
position, net ;  nay,  it  is  sin  to  make  it  so 
small :  rather  a  hundred  fold  is  right,  so  great 
is  the  gain  in  contentment. 

When  we  consider  how  vitally  near  we 
are  to  God,  whether  we  admit  it  or  not,  it 
stands  us  in  good  stead  to  know  God  well. 
The  ancient  Greeks  thought  it  the  height 
of  wisdom  to  "  know  thyself,"  yet  if  we  know 
not  God  we  cannot  know  ourselves ;  for  it 
is  written,  "  In  Him  we  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being."  It  was  the  breath  of  God 
that  made  clay  Adam  a  living  soul. 

Now  since  it  is  so  important  for  a  human 
being  to  know  God,  in  order  to  make  his 
life  a  success  and  his  death  a  success,  let  us 
consider  how  a  man  can  know  God. 


46  THE  BEST  WAY 

This  is  the  way :  take  the  New  Testa- 
ment, go  into  your  room  and  lock  the  door 
against  interruption.  Read  the  words  of 
Christ,  what  Jesus  said ;  then  do  them,  each 
one,  and  skip  none.  Mary  said  at  the  mar- 
riage at  Cana,  "  Whatsoever  He  saith  unto 
you,  do  it"  Let  her  words  also  lead  you. 
If  you  cannot  do  everything  Christ  says  the 
first  day,  then  do  it  the  second,  or  keep  prac- 
tising at  your  task  until  you  do.  Then  you 
will  gradually  get  religion;  and,  wearing  it 
in  gradually,  it  will  stay  in. 

Go  into  your  private  room  and  shut  the 
door.  Do  you  do  it  ?  Do  you  do  whatso- 
ever Christ  says  ?  "  No,"  some  one  says. 
Then  do  not  complain  of  a  lack  of  grace, 
or  peace,  or  power,  or  a  knowledge  of  God. 
If  we  pray  in  secret,  God  rewards  us  openly. 

When  you  try  to  do  the  words  of  Christ 
and  seem  to  lack  enthusiasm  or  interest,  it  is 
because  you  do  not  call  to  your  mind  your 
past  or  present  sins,  and  fail  to  remember  the 
pit  from  whence  you  were  dug,  no  matter 
how  shallow  or  how  deep  that  pit  was. 
Paul,  it  seems  to  us,  always  was  a  rare  good 
man,  yet  he  calls  himself  the  chief  of  sinners. 

When  you  try  to  do  the  words  of  Christ, 


CAN  A  MAN   KNOW  GOD?  47 

remember  He  means  just  what  He  says. 
There  are  two  dangers  here.  One  is  to  over- 
estimate  them,  another  to  «»<^<?restimate 
them. 

For  instance,  a  man  with  a  family  of  chil- 
dren might  read  the  words,  "  Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,"  and  might 
give  all  his  money  away ;  and  when  his  chil- 
dren needed  it  to  help  learn  a  trade  or  secure 
an  education,  or  perhaps  to  bury  their  father, 
they  would  have  none  and  it  might  have  to 
be  done  at  the  public  expense.  Now  the 
mistake  such  a  man  would  make  is  this : 
forgetting  to  notice  the  little  words,  "  for 
thyself"  If  he  should  keep  money  for  right- 
eous purposes  it  would  not  be  for  himself, 
but  for  others  and  for  right.  God  will  reveal 
to  him  how  much  he  ought  to  give  to  God. 

Indeed,  it  is  always  best  to  ask  help  of 
those  who  are  able  to  teach  when  we  are 
learning  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  Christ. 

Another  way  a  man  may  a«d'<?restimate 
the  words  of  Christ  is  this :  I  used  to  know 
a  man  who  said,  "  When  Christ  commanded 
us  to  love  our  enemies  and  be  pure  in  our 
heart  as  well  as  in  our  acts,  of  course  He 
did  not  mean  that  we  could  really  love  our 


48  THE  BEST  WAY 

enemies,  but  rather  do  them  no  harm ;  and 
by  keeping  our  minds  pure  He  rather  meant 
that  we  should  not  do  anything  impure." 

Oh,  comrade  !  do  not  stumble  on  such 
sad  ideas  of  the  holy  Christ  and  on  your  own 
capacity  through  the  power  of  God's  Spirit 
indwelling  in  you  and  not  yet  fully  resur- 
rected from  the  dross  of  sin  or  neglect. 
Christ  means  for  us  to  have  our  affections  so 
pure  that  we  indeed  become  pure  in  heart. 
He  means  for  our  natural  selves  to  be  so 
supernaturally  changed  that  we  become  full 
of  love  divine  and  can  love  our  enemies. 
But  know  this,  that  love  is  comparative ;  we 
cannot  love  a  person  naturally  disagreeable 
to  us  with  the  same  love  whereby  we  love 
God  or  Christ,  or  our  wife  or  children,  or 
those  with  whom  we  blend  naturally,  but  we 
can  love  such  a  person  with  a  deep  love,  and 
with  a  feeling  that  is  love  and  nothing  but 
love.  This  we  can  do,  not  of  ourselves,  but 
when  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells  in  us  and  con- 
trols us.  "  In  God  we  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being."  Perhaps  Christ  loves  best 
the  wickedest  in  His  desire  to  save  them. 

When  you  find  you  have  hard  work  to 
love  your  enemy,  go  by  yourself  and  on  your 


CAN  A   MAN   KNOW  GOD?  49 

knees  pray  God  for  power  so  to  do.  If  you 
are  sincere  and  mean  what  you  say,  the  power 
will  come.  If  you  cannot  go  by  yourself, 
pray  where  you  are  :  the  power  will  come. 
You  will  be  able. 

i\gain,  if  you  have  hard  work  to  be  real 
sorry  for  sin  and  are  rather  cold  toward  God, 
begin  at  once  to  be  alarmed  and  pray  for 
forgiveness,  and  ask  Him  for  the  presence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  that  you  may  be  convicted 
anew  of  your  sins  and  feel  truly  repentant, 
truly  sorry.  Then  the  ability  to  be  sorry 
will  come,  if  you  mean  what  you  say  and  are 
in  real  earnest.  Then  God  will  reveal  Him- 
self to  you. 

When  we  call  ourselves  men  and  women 
we  often  forget  we  are  immortal  spirits,  des- 
tined to  live  in  either  one  of  two  places. 

If  we  know  God,  we  know  we  shall  go  to 
Him  if  we  are  faithful  to  the  end. 

To  continue  to  know  God  we  should  con- 
tinue to  praise  Him.  It  is  natural  we  should 
be  so  grateful.  "Worship  and  praise  to  Him 
belong."  Even  the  Hindoos  have  a  proverb, 
"  Ingratitude  is  an  unpardonable  crime." 

There  was  a  certain  man  swimming  in  the 
surf;  suddenly  a  cramp  came  upon  him  and 


50  THE  BEST  WAY 

he  was  helpless.  He  called  for  aid,  and  a 
strong-armed  man  braved  the  billows  and 
rescued  him.  The  saved  man  was  brought 
ashore,  was  restored,  and  went  up  town  into 
the  streets,  and  told  his  friends  he  had  been 
almost  drowned,  but  did  not  mention,  the 
fact  of  his  having  been  saved  or  name  his 
rescuer  from  the  seas. 

What  do  you  think  of  such  an  ingrate  as 
that? 

Ah,  when  we  are  saved  from  the  surf  of 
sin,  let  us  tell  others  how  we  were  saved  and 
who  saved  us.  Confess  with  your  mouth 
the  Lord  Jesus. 

It  is  a  necessary  way  to  get  to  know  God. 

Where  would  you  be  to-day  if  no  one  had 
told  you  about  the  Saviour  *? 

You  remember  when  Paul  was  in  Athens 
he  was  on  Mars  Hill,  and  as  he  was  preach- 
ing to  the  people  he  told  them  he  saw  an 
altar  in  their  city  with  these  words,  "  To  the 
Unknown  God."  Paul  told  them  that  they 
were  too  superstitious,  and  then  he  went  on 
to  tell  them  about  the  God  he  knew,  —  their 
Father  in  Heaven  as  well  as  his.  The  God 
of  Paul  is  the  same  God  I  have  sought  to 
declare  unto  you. 


CAN  A  MAN   KNOW   GOD?  51 

It  is  noble  to  be  pure. 

It  is  right  to  be  honest. 

It  is  necessary  to  be  temperate. 

It  is  wise  to  be  industrious. 

But  to  know  God  through  Christ  is  best 
of  all. 

I  have  sought  to  plead  my  case.  You  are 
the  jury.  I  have  been  but  a  poor  lawyer 
for  God,  it  may  be ;  but  I  have  such  confi- 
dence in  the  merits  of  my  case  that  I  rest  it 
here.     It  is  for  you  to  give  the  verdict. 

Can  a  man  know  God  ? 


THE   FEAR   OF   THE   LORD   IS 

THE   BEGINNING   OF 

WISDOM 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE  LORD  IS  THE 
BEGINNING  OF  WISDOM 

A  LONG  time  ago,  a  certain  pastor  of  the 
Park  Street  Church  of  Boston,  the  old  "Brim- 
stone Corner  "  church,  as  the  worldly  called 
it,  because  the  whole  truth  was  preached 
there,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  he  would 
have  had  more  success  in  his  ministry  if  he 
had  preached  much  more  of  the  love  of  God 
than  of  the  wrath  of  God.  Perhaps ;  but  I 
think  not. 

At  all  events,  perhaps  following  the  said 
pastor's  lead,  the  many  years  since  have  seen 
a  great  number  of  pulpits  emphasizing  the 
love  of  God  and  forgetting  to  emphasize  the 
just  wrath  of  God  for  His  broken  laws. 

It  is  true  that  God's  love  is  almost  bound- 
less, yet  it  is  limited  in  that  if  we  disobey 
His  commandments,  penalties  follow.  This 
proves  His  own  proclamation  that  He  is  a 
jealous  God,  jealous  of  the  obedience  to  His 
laws,  and  that  He  will  punish  those  who 
break  them. 


56  THE  BEST  WAY 

The  fact  is,  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love 
of  God  should  be  interlinked  in  all  presenta- 
tions of  divine  law  and  truth. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  aforesaid  pastor's 
preferred  system  of  presenting  divine  truth 
from  the  pulpit  has  had  somewhat  to  do  with 
the  great  lack  of  respect  for  authority  in  this 
country. 

There  is  only  one  way  to  get  away  from 
the  need  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  that  is, 
to  have  perfect  love  for  Him.  "  Perfect  love 
casteth  out  fear."  But  the  fear  of  God's 
wrath  precedes  the  beginning  of  the  wisdom 
of  perfect  love  for  Him,  Daniel  Webster 
said  the  "  fear  of  Heaven  expels  all  other 
fear."  How  true  !  The  nation  or  individual 
who  fears  God  is  fearless,  since  wisdom  then 
begins,  and  men  and  nations  know  that  God 
is  with  them  that  fear  Him. 

We  often  see  hanging  on  the  walls  of  our 
homes  an  embroidered  inscription  framed, 
"  God  is  Love."  Did  you  think  God  is  only 
love,  and  has  no  just  wrath;  though,  to  be 
sure,  that  is  the  result  of  love  for  our  wel- 
fare ?  Ah,  if  you  did,  you  don't  know  Him 
as  He  is,  for  He  is  a  jealous  God  and  a  God 
of  wrath  when  His  laws  are  broken,  —  but 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE  LORD  57 

for  our  sake.  Ah,  you  may  well  fear  Him. 
Look  at  the  children  born  in  sin  and  inno- 
cently growing  up  in  sin.  See  that  young 
man  paralyzed,  the  result  of  sin,  of  God's  law 
insulted.  See  the  penalty.  Are  you  not 
afraid  of  sin? 

I  think  I  can  thus  illustrate  the  love  and 
wrath  of  God  contrasted  :  — 

Some  men  were  talking  about  their  em- 
ployer. One  of  the  men  had  just  come  to 
work  on  the  ranch ;  it  was  he  who  was  in- 
quiring about  the  employer. 

"  What  kind  of  man  is  he  ?  "  said  he. 

One  replied,  "  He  is  a  good  man  and  kind, 
but  he  means  business.  If  you  'soldier' 
under  him  he  will  warn  you  and  tell  you  he 
expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty;  but  if 
you  '  soldier '  again  he  will  fire  you." 

God  will  permit  innocent  children  to  suf- 
fer by  the  laws  of  heredity,  visiting  the  in- 
iquity of  the  parents  on  the  children  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate 
Him. 

*'  He  does  that,  you  say  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  I  say,  "  he  does." 

"  Well,"  a  man  says,  "  if  God  will  do  that 


58  THE  BEST  WAY 

I  will  not  give  my  heart  to  such  a  God  as 
that ;  "  and  another  says,  "  No  personal  God 
could  do  that." 

Ah,  but  I  tell  you  He  does  and  is ;  and  is 
worthy  of  the  gift  of  our  hearts  and  their 
adoration. 

Was  not  your  father  worthy  of  your  love, 
and  yet  he  whipped  you  ?  —  fortunately  for 
you  he  did  not  spare  the  rod  and  spoil  you. 

You  are  under  God's  laws  whether  you 
will  or  not.  You  are  born  on  this  earth, 
which  is  His  footstool.  It  matters  not  what 
your  opinion  is;  but  it  matters  everything 
to  you  whether  you  so  live  as  to  profit  by 
obedience  to  God's  laws.  Just  as  you  ar- 
range your  life  to  profit  by  obedience  to 
certain  laws  of  nature,  so  you  should  arrange 
your  spiritual  life,  and  moral  life,  to  profit 
by  obedience  to  God's  laws  through  Christ. 

When  it  is  cold,  you  build  a  fire  :  you 
don't  sit  and  freeze.  It  would  do  no  good 
to  say,  "  Oh,  God  would  not  freeze  me  to 
death.  He  is  too  good." 

Ah,  we  have  to  acknowledge  God's  laws. 
It  is  our  only  hope,  our  only  safety. 

If  it  was  all  right  to  permit  impurity  in 
any  form,  or  promiscuous  copulation,  why 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE  LORD  59 

does  disease  follow  therefrom  *?  Especially, 
when  in  the  marriage  relation  no  disease 
results,  if  both  have  been  pure. 

The  world  is  in  a  sad  condition.  The 
sins  of  the  parents  have  been  visited  upon 
their  children's  children,  and  these  sins  have 
been  increased  in  their  bad  effects  by  the 
sins  of  the  children  themselves ;  so  that  the 
curses  of  disobedience  gather  upon  the  sons 
of  men  in  an  aggravated  arithmetical  ratio. 

Alas  I  the  burden  is  so  heavy  upon  us  tliat 
our  only  hope  lies  in  the  Burden-bearer, 
Christ;  for  Him  to  get  under  the  burden 
and  lift  it  off  us,  as  He  will  do,  if  we  ask 
Him  aright. 

Remember,  too,  that  though  God  warns 
us  that  our  sins  will  descend  to  our  pos- 
terity, and  though  we  suffer  from  the  sins  of 
our  predecessors,  yet  God  expressly  says  He 
will  show  mercy  to  those  who  love  Him  and 
keep  His  commandments.  Our  hope,  then, 
lies  in  His  mercy  and  in  our  determination 
to  obey  Him  and  to  follow  the  words  of 
Christ. 

Alas,  O  man !  Ancestral  sins  in  your  blood 
perhaps  augmented  by  your  own  sins ! 

If  God  is  so  jealous  of  His  rights  and  of 


6o  THE  BEST  WAY 

His  laws  as  to  permit  an  innocent  babe  to 
be  born  of  consumptive  parents  and  live  a 
life  burdened  with  disease,  and  to  continue 
that  punishment  sometimes  to  the  third  and 
fourth  generation,  then  I  say  He  is  a  God 
to  be  feared,  —  whose  displeasure  is  to  be 
feared  until  you  obtain  and  maintain  that 
perfect  love  which  casts  out  fear. 

And  furthermore,  if  God  permits  a  life- 
time of  physical  suffering  as  a  penalty  for 
disobedience  to  be  inherited  by  the  innocent, 
then  I  find  it  reasonable  for  my  soul  to  be- 
lieve that  Eternal  Hell  after  death  is  a  fact 
unto  those  who  die  in  revolt  and  disobedi- 
ence against  Him. 

0  come  and  make  your  peace  with  God : 
though  He  is  a  jealous  God,  yet  He  is  full 
of  love,  and  of  great  mercy  to  those  who  seek 
to  please  Him. 

1  have  not  come  to  condemn  you,  but  to 
condemn  sin ;  I  come  to  bring  good  news, 
to  give  you  hope,  to  declare  salvation  is 
free  ! 

Don't  you  want  to  be  free  *?  God  wants 
to  forgive.  Why  hold  back  ?  God  needs 
you !  What  can  you  say  to  Him  *?  He 
will  deny  you  nothing  that  is  for  your  good ! 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE  LORD  6i 

For  each  nickel  you  give  Him,  He  will  give 
you  a  twenty  dollar  goldpiece.  For  the 
old  bone  he  takes  away  from  you,  He  will 
give  you  roast  turkey. 

Ah  !  has  not  Satan  given  you  a  drug  to 
put  you  to  sleep  so  you  can't  hear  Jesus  call- 
ing ?  Wake  up  I  Wake  up  !  or  the  insidious 
medicine  will  work  and  it  will  be  too  late. 

Get  Christ  between  you  and  the  wrath  of 
God. 

God  said  in  the  first  dispensation,  "  I  am 
a  jealous  God  and  punish  sin." 

Christ  said  in  the  second  dispensation 
those  awful  words,  "  With  what  measure  ye 
mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you." 

What  prevents  or  hinders  our  getting  and 
keeping  this  fear  of  God  which  is  the  begin- 
ning of  wisdom?  Three  things  occur  to 
my  mind  as  so  acting. 

First,  people  hear  the  way  to  God  preached 
and  believe  it,  but  when  it  comes  to  accept- 
ing the  conditions  necessary,  they  hold  back  ; 
especially  as  to  confession.  Moody  says  he 
never  knew  any  man  to  be  converted  till  he 
confessed.  When  a  man  sees  his  sin  as  it  is 
revealed  in  the  light  of  Christ's  teachings  and 
hears  the  instruction  that  he  should  confess 


62  THE  BEST  WAY 

his  sins  to  God  and  to  those  he  has  wronged, 
if  any,  he  instinctively  knows  that  he  should 
do  so.  But  sometimes  Satan  whispers,  "  Don't 
confess ;  what  would  the  world  say  if  you 
turned  to  be  a  Christian,  and  how  humiliating 
to  ask  a  man  to  forgive  you  for  what  you 
have  done."  Satan  always  proposes  the  op- 
posite that  God  does :  so  did  he  to  Eve. 

Under  such  darts  from  Satan's  mind  con- 
fession seems  as  difficult  a  task  as  the  lift- 
ing of  a  big  rock.  But  it  is  not  when  you 
try. 

It  reminds  me  of  a  large  pumice  rock  I 
have  which  was  brought  from  the  Colorado 
Desert.  It  is  a  large  rock,  and  to  look  at  it 
you  would  think  it  would  take  a  strong  man 
to  lift  it  from  the  floor,  but  in  reality  it  is  so 
light  a  man  can  hold  it  above  his  head  with 
one  hand. 

Sometimes  when  a  stranger  comes  to  my 
office,  a  stranger  to  the  rock  I  mean,  I  ask 
him  if  he  is  feeling  strong  to-day,  and  if  he 
could  lift  that  rock.  He  accepts  the  chal- 
lenge, and  pulling  up  his  sleeves  stoops  over, 
and,  expecting  the  rock  to  require  a  mighty 
effort,  is  chagrined  to  find  the  rock  almost  as 
light  as  a  feather. 


THE   FEAR  OF  THE   LORD  63 

Believe  me,  it  is  somewhat  so  with  con- 
fession. After  you  have  made  up  your 
mind  to  confess,  it  is  not  hard. 

Another  hindrance  to  the  beginning  of 
wisdom  is  that  people  are  building  high 
fences  between  them  and  Heaven,  one  line  of 
fence  after  another  between  them  and  God, 
until  some  build  five,  some  ten,  and  some 
more :  and  by  and  by,  when  they  come  to 
die,  they  will  want  to  run  to  Heaven,  but 
there  are  the  fences  I  Some  they  can  climb, 
but  their  strength  is  almost  always  insuffi- 
cient to  hold  out,  and  they  fall  down  ex- 
hausted ;  they  perish,  and  their  eternity  is 
out  of  Heaven,  where  Hell  is. 

Some  of  these  fences  are  impurity,  unbe- 
lief. Sabbath  desecration,  deceit,  selfishness, 
dishonesty,  cruelty,  and  worldliness.  Others 
have  names  you  well  know. 

Oh !  I  call  on  you  to-day  to  stop  building 
fences  between  you  and  Heaven.  They  will 
likely  keep  you  out,  unless  you  change. 

Turn,  won't  you  *?  Repent,  and  God  will 
cause  those  high  fences  to  fall,  so  that  your 
view  of  Heaven  may  be  unobstructed. 

Many  are  daily  being  deceived  by  de- 
ceptions worse  than  the  gold-brick  swindle. 


64  THE  BEST  WAY 

Many  are  swapping  off  the  way  to  holiness 
for  the  way  to  silUness.  Oh,  halt  I  I  call  you 
back !     Come  back  to-night ! 

If  we  would  avoid  a  way  which  is  contrary 
to  wisdom,  let  us  ever  remember  to  avoid 
collision  with  disagreeable  circumstances: 
they  will  come,  but  steer  out  of  their  way. 
When  you  see  a  boat  bearing  down  upon 
you,  do  you  not  change  your  course  to  avoid 
collision?  Once  I  was  driving  with  my 
family,  and  as  we  turned  a  corner  in  the  road, 
behold  !  a  runaway  team  was  coming  straight 
for  us.  I  had  just  time  to  turn  my  horses 
out  when  the  runaways  dashed  past. 

So  when  disagreeable  things  come,  turn 
out  for  them  and  avoid  collision.  Meet  them 
with  a  smile  inside,  if  not  out.  This  is  the 
key  to  joy.  As  Christ  says,  "Agree  with 
thine  adversary."  Often  silence  is  golden. 
Bridle  your  tongue,  and  with  a  Spanish  bit. 
Do  not  talk  back.  It  takes  two  to  make  a 
quarrel.  A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath. 
It  is  better  to  suffer  wrong  than  to  do  wrong. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  management  and 
training  of  children  it  is  wise  to  avoid  having 
a  direct  breach. 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE  LORD  65 

My  heart  goes  out  to-day  for  those  who 
are  beginning  the  battle  of  hfe.  To  such  I 
come  to-day  to  tell  them  that  lived  religion 
brings  prosperity. 

Satan  will  tell  you  another  story,  as  he  told 
Eve  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  But  don't 
believe  him.  If  it  is  not  wrong  to  be  im- 
pure, why  should  there  be  any  physical  pen- 
alty after  impurity  *? 

"  There  is  a  way  which  seemeth  right  unto 
a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of 
death." 

Oh,  here  let  me  tell  you  a  great  counsel, 
a  valuable  bit  of  advice  from  the  Book  of 
Ages,  to  wit ;  Make  a  covenant  with  your 
eyes  not  to  look  upon  one  of  the  other  sex 
in  an  unchristian  way.  If  you  practise  that, 
you  will  bless  the  day  you  began  to  do  so. 

"  Do  I  want  to  do  this,  or  don't  I  want  to 
do  this  ■?  Will  I  pay  this  price  of  piety  and 
get  the  reward,  or  will  I  not  pay  and  have 
the  license  which  leads  to  Hell  *?  Which 
do  I  want.  Heaven  or  Hell  ?  " 

Such  is  the  soliloquy  each  youth  has  to 
solve.     Oh,  solve  it  right,  won't  you  ! 

In  the  strength  of  your  youth  Satan  tempts 
you  to  think,  "  What  do  I  want  ?  " 


66  THE   BEST  WAY 

Instead,  I  beg  you  to  think,  "  What  does 
God  want  of  me  ^ "  Ah,  the  Master  needs 
you ;  won't  you  come  to  His  help  in  the 
battle  against  sin  now  going  on  *? 

There  is  reason  in  God's  laws  for  you :  it 
is  a  reasonable  service. 

Pray  do  not  let  Satan  mislead  you  and 
cheat  you  to  believe  in  a  lie.  Remember 
the  penalties  of  sin,  and  beware. 

Satan  will  dazzle  you  if  you  do  not  look 
out.  As  a  May  bee  flies  about  a  candlelight, 
attracted  by  the  light,  dazed  by  the  glare,  in- 
toxicated by  the  glamour,  he  flies  nearer  and 
nearer  until  he  burns  his  wings  and  falls 
disabled  on  the  table.  Hundreds  of  young 
people  to-night  are  flying  about  the  dazzling, 
attractive  glare  of  sin  :  to-morrow  they  will 
lie  disabled  by  the  poison  of  sin. 

Ah,  the  better  way  is  to  know  the  danger 
of  disobedience  and  the  penalties  of  sin,  and 
keep  away  from  it.  Make  a  covenant  with 
your  eyes  and  bridle  your  tongue  lest  it 
speak  evil :  also  bring  every  thought  into 
captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  you  will  win. 

When  in  Christ,  in  the  secret  of  His  pre- 
sence, in  the  fortress  of  His  care,  it  seems  as 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE  LORD  67 

it  does  when,  in  a  mosquito  district,  you  sit 
at  twilight  by  an  open  window,  at  peace 
because  the  screen  in  your  window  keeps 
the  mosquitos  from  annoying  you :  they 
can't  get  at  you.  But  you  can  hear  them 
buzzing  away  outside.  So  when  in  the 
secret  place  of  the  Most  High  you  are  safe; 
though  you  can  sometimes  hear  the  emis- 
saries of  Satan,  the  demons  of  Hell,  whisper- 
ing and  buzzing  their  insinuations  of  sin, 
they  can't  get  at  you  through  the  screen  of 
Christ. 

Yes,  we  had  better  take  time  to  be  holy, 
to  talk  more  to  God,  to  commune  more 
with  Christ.     Prayer  is  the  price  of  peace. 

"  I  don't  pray,  I  'm  so  busy,"  says  one. 
Then  you  will  run  into  trouble.     Sure  I 


Oh,  youth,  be  careful  of  every  step  you 
take  !  A  short  time  ago  in  Los  Angeles,  the 
morning  paper  bore  the  headline  :  — 

"  ONE    STEP    SAVED    HIM." 

Then  it  told  about  a  judge  who  went  to 
his  door  at  night  to  answer  the  door-bell. 
As  he  opened  it,  a  man  fired  a  revolver,  but 


68  THE  BEST  WAY 

as  he  did  so,  the  judge  stepped  one  step  and 
the  bullet  missed  its  mark. 

One  step  toward  God  or  toward  Satan 
may  save  or  ruin  you. 

When  you  are  tempted,  say  to  yourself, 
"  Is  it  right  *?  "  If  the  answer  comes  "  No," 
then  it  should  really  be  no  temptation.  If 
it  is  not  right  it  will  bring  no  blessing. 

God  does  not  want  you  to  be  lost.  "  As  I 
live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  the  wicked." 

Are  you  keeping  correct  time  towards 
God*?  Are  you  doing  right  in  all  your 
ways?  In  a  watch  all  the  little  wheels  have 
to  be  adjusted  just  right  in  order  to  have  the 
watch  fulfil  its  purpose :  It  is  so  in  our 
spiritual  life. 

Are  you  "  on  time  "  in  your  obligations  to 
God  ?  If  we  are  not,  then  we  fail  to  be  of 
best  use. 

"  Alas,  I  don't  tell  time  right,"  says  some 
one. 

Oh,  to-day  let  us  go  to  the  great  Watch- 
maker and  give  ourselves  into  His  hands 
and  be  repaired,  so  that  we  can  be  fit  for  the 
Master's  use. 


THE  FEAR  OF  THE   LORD  69 

O  ye  daughters  of  Zion,  clothed  gloriously 
(as  I  would  like  to  see  every  one,  in  good 
taste),  God  means  the  heart  and  soul  to  be 
arrayed  in  righteousness.  We  might  be 
clothed  in  the  finest  of  linen,  yet  that  might 
cover  a  heart  as  coarse  as  crash. 

When  we  look  in  the  mirror  to  behold 
our  God-given  beauty,  let  us  glance  first  in 
the  looking-glass  of  Heaven,  to  see  how  our 
soul  looks,  and  remember  the  beauty  of 
holiness. 

The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom.  God's  penalties  are  sure,  —  some- 
times swift,  sometimes  slow,  but  always  sure. 
What  is  the  use  talking  about  the  injustice 
of  God,  unbeliever?  When  you  are  cold 
in  winter,  do  you  stop  to  talk  about  the  in- 
justice of  the  thermometer'?  No  indeed; 
you  go  and  put  on  your  overcoat. 

If  you  believe  the  wrath  of  God  is  too 
severe,  quit  talking  about  it,  get  under  the 
shadow  of  His  wings  :  put  on  your  over- 
coat. Pray  to  God  to  reveal  Himself  to 
you,  and  keep  on  praying  until  you  are  de- 
livered from  doubts. 

Then  the  peace  which  passeth  understand- 
ing will  come  into  your  life,  like  an  orchestra 


70  THE  BEST  WAY 

of  Heaven  playing  harmonious  strains  of 
silent  music,  to  give  you  peace  and  courage. 
Get  under  the  protection  of  God,  and  the 
strength  of  Heaven  will  be  on  your  side, 
against  which  nothing  can  prevail.  Then 
the  forces  of  Heaven,  the  artillery,  the  in- 
fantry, and  the  cavalry,  even  the  Father,  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  will  be  for  you.  You 
will  thus  have  the  law,  the  truth,  and  grace 
to  work  for  you,  and  you  will  win  I 


TRUSTING  GOD 


TRUSTING  GOD 

A  NEW  year  stretches  out  before  us ;  the 
road  goes  over  mountains  and  down  into 
valleys.  We  shall  be  on  the  heights  of  joy, 
but  will  also  travel  into  the  depressions,  yet 
these,  if  accepted  aright,  can  be  made  level 
with  the  heights.  "  Ah !  if  thou  didst  but 
know  the  joy  of  an  accepted  sorrow." 

As  we  stand  on  the  threshold  of  a  new 
year  it  is  important  that  we  give  considera- 
tion to  our  trust  in  God,  because  during  the 
year  to  come,  if  we  trust  in  Him,  we  shall 
have  a  good  year,  a  year  of  peace  and  joy 
and  success.  If  we  trust  Him  not,  a  year  of 
oppressing  disasters  will  befal  us,  or  worse 
yet,  we  may  be  so  forgotten  of  God  as  to  be 
permitted  to  go  right  along  in  our  own  way, 
without  hope  in  Christ,  and  be  unchastised 
of  God  to  bring  us  to  a  stop  in  our  mad 
career. 

But  before  we  seek  an  explanation  of  what 
trusting  God  is,  let  us  consider  some  things 


74  THE  BEST  WAY 

that  ought  to  be  clear  to  our  redeemed 
mmds. 

First,  then,  the  atonement.  Many  there 
are  who  do  not  have  an  intellectual  concep- 
tion of  what  the  atonement  is.  With  such, 
combined  with  a  spiritual  discernment  there- 
of, one  is  helped  to  have  more  confidence  in 
God. 

Then  listen. 

Thousands  of  years  ago  God  put  certain 
men  at  the  head  of  his  divine  law-giving 
church,  or  permitted  such  men  to  be  in  au- 
thority over  the  people  in  spiritual  matters. 
Melchizedek  was  the  first  priest  of  God,  of 
record.  Now  God  ordained  through  His 
said  priests  that  a  man  must  make  sacrifices 
for  sins  he  committed,  it  being  understood 
that  he  must  also,  of  course,  be  sorry.  And 
so  it  was  the  church  law,  that  for  certain  sins 
committed  certain  animal  sacrifices  should 
be  made,  doves,  lambs,  or  oxen.  This  church 
law  existed  for  centuries  and  for  very  many 
generations  of  people. 

But  finally,  I  believe  that  God  saw  that 
people  would  make  the  lamb  sacrifices,  but 
would  not  be  sorry  within,  and  He  made  a 
new  dispensation,  or  law,  whereby  He  Him- 


TRUSTING  GOD  75 

self  sacrificed  the  Lamb  of  God  for  all  the 
sins  of  the  world,  and  called  on  men  to 
prove  their  sorrow  by  following  the  Man  of 
Sorrows. 

To  that  end  He  chose  His  most  precious 
possession,  His  only  begotten  Son,  Jesus, 
and  had  Him  come  to  the  earth  as  a  little 
child  and  grow  up  to  be  about  thirty,  suffer- 
ing as  we  have  suffered  and  bearing  agonies 
we  have  only  seen  afar  off  in  our  experience, 
and  dying  on  the  cross ;  after  teaching  people 
how  to  repent  and  be  saved,  by  being  sorry 
for  sin  and  doing  His  words,  without  any 
further  need  of  the  sacrifice  of  animal  life. 
Christ  taught  that  what  God  wanted  more 
than  the  blood  of  beasts  was  a  contrite  heart. 
Now  do  you  see  what  "  The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin" 
means  ? 

As  I  said,  for  very  many  generations  peo- 
ple had  become  accustomed  to  the  idea  that 
some  sacrifice  was  necessary  to  propitiate 
God  in  addition  to  repentance.  It  was  in- 
bred in  their  minds.  It  was  an  inherited 
and  re-inherited  idea.  It  was  a  part  of  their 
very  being,  a  vital  factor  in  their  understand- 
ing of  spiritual  things. 


76  THE  BEST  WAY 

Recognizing  this  fact  God  made  the  new 
Christian  dispensation  to  be  able  to  fit  into 
the  old  without  friction  or  hiatus. 

Now,  atonement  means  at-one-ment,  satis- 
fying, harmonizing.  So  the  atonement  or 
sacrifice  of  Christ  means  that  Christ  was  the 
sacrifice  acceptable  to  God  for  all  the  sins  of 
the  world,  and  for  our  sins:  and  what  we 
have  to  do  is  to  prove  we  are  sorry  for  our 
sins  by  accepting  or  believing  in  Christ, 
God's  sacrifice,  and  by  doing  His  words, 
which  are  the  way  and  the  truth  and  the 
life. 

With  this  understanding  of  what  the  atone- 
ment means,  our  minds  can  be  calm  to  pro- 
ceed to  trust  in  God  through  Christ. 

Second,  "  There  is  none  other  name  under 
Heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must 
be  saved."  Now  there  are  some  that  tremble 
at  these  words  because  they  are  not  sure  they 
have  Christ.  To  have  Christ  is  to  believe  in 
Him  as  the  divine  Son  of  God  and  to  do  His 
words :  that  is  to  say,  if  a  man  lives  in  the 
Law  of  Christ,  or  the  Divine  Law,  he  will 
be  saved.  But  here  we  must  be  very  careful 
lest   we    become    bigoted,    for   Jesus    says, 


TRUSTING  GOD  77 

"  Other  sheep  have  I  which  are  not  of  this 
fold."  I  believe  this  means  the  people  that 
do  the  words  of  Christ  without  discerning 
the  whole  truth  about  Him,  and  without 
having  any  intellectual  conception  of  the 
atonement.  It  may  mean  more  in  heathen 
lands,  but  I  doubt  this. 

But  what  is  that  to  us,  since  Christ  says, 
"  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  "  ? 

Now  we  come  to  the  third. 

"Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord."  Ah  I  this  is  an  awful  scripture.  How 
many  times  in  the  past  have  I  stood  in  fearful 
awe  of  these  words,  knowing  I  was  not  holy  ! 

But  let  us  consider  them. 

I  believe  that  in  the  second  or  moment 
in  which  a  man  has  his  heart  focused  on 
God  through  faith  in  Christ,  he  is  holy,  pro- 
viding his  heart  is  constrained  by  the  fear 
and  love  of  God  into  present  obedience. 
For  the  devils  believe  I  Bad  men  believe  at 
times !     And  yet  they  turn  not. 

Now,  if  this  said  moment  or  second  is 
extended  by  a  growth  in  grace  to  several 
moments,  to  an  hour,  to  a  day,  to  a  year, 
to  the  rest  of  your  life,  even  unto  the  door 


78  THE   BEST  WAY 

of  death,  why  hoUness  is  yours,  and  this  text, 
"  Without  hoKness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord,"  need  not  alarm  you. 

But  if  you  have  not  the  consistent  witness 
within  that  you  are  holy,  wholly  His,  and  if 
God's  Spirit  does  not  bear  witness  with  your 
spirit  that  you  are  a  child  of  God,  then  he 
afraid. 

Ah!  many  times  would  I  have  hidden 
away  from  God,  could  I  have  done  so. 
Many  times  would  I  have  put  my  hands 
over  my  eyes,  could  I  have  kept  out  the  all- 
seeing  eye  of  God.  Sometimes  I  have  been 
so  miserable  and  ashamed  I  could  find  no 
relief  save  in  penitential  tears  and  absolute 
contrition  in  the  fear  and  love  of  God; 
pained  because  I  had  not  followed  Jesus, 
but  had  gone  out  of  the  way  divine. 

This  text  is  the  balance  of  our  Christian 
life :  it  is  the  index  of  our  standing  with  God. 
It  is  at  the  same  time  a  sweet  assurance  and 
a  sharp  warning.  It  is  the  alpha  and  omega 
of  texts. 

With  such  an  introduction,  let  us  now 
consider  what  it  means  to  trust  in  God. 

Before  we  can  trust  God  we  must  know 


TRUSTING  GOD  79 

Him,  through  Christ.     "  I  know  in  whom  I 
have  believed,"  joyfully  cries  Paul. 

"  I  cannot  trust  Him,"  says  a  friend,  "  I 
do  not  know  Him." 

How,  then,  can  a  man  know  God?  The 
answer  is  very  simple.  Do  Christ's  words, 
whatever  He  says  to  do.  As  Mary  said  on 
the  occasion  of  the  first  miracle,  "  Whatsoever 
He  saith  unto  you,  do  it." 

Thus  do,  and  you  will  come  to  know 
God.  Your  sincerity  will  find  Him.  Christ 
will  make  you  acquainted  with  Him,  and  if 
you  keep  on  doing  Christ's  words  the  ac- 
quaintance will  grow  into  friendship  and 
knowledge,  and  you  will  be  able  to  under- 
stand how  Abraham  was  God's  friend.  Then 
you  will  be  able  not  only  to  know  God,  but 
to  tell  others  how  to  find  Him.  It  is  good 
to  know  God. 

To  be  able  to  trust  a  man  you  must  know 
him ;  you  must  summer  and  winter  him.  So 
to  be  able  to  fully  trust  God  you  must  know 
Him  by  the  law  of  growth  in  grace  in  order 
to  have  full  confidence  in  Him. 

It  is  beautiful  to  have  confidence  in  God. 
It  brings  contentment.  Our  past  experi- 
ences with  God  are  written  on  the  scroll  of 


8o  THE   BEST   WAY 

memory.  Unroll  the  scroll  for  the  good  of 
the  soul !  What  saith  it  *?  Thus  saith  it : 
When  there  was  no  peace,  He  gave  me 
peace ;  When  there  was  no  joy,  He  gave  me 
joy;  When  there  was  no  hope,  He  gave 
me  hope.  Again,  it  saith :  As  the  bed  is  rest 
for  the  body  and  music  for  the  mind,  so 
Thou,  O  God,  art  rest  for  my  soul. 

Such  are  the  fruits  of  the  experience  of 
trusting  in  God. 

If  we  trust  a  man  with  money  we  have 
confidence  in  him  that  he  will  return  it.  We 
have  confidence  in  his  honesty  and  ability. 
I  knew  a  man  who  said  of  his  Mexican  va- 
quero,  "  I  would  trust  that  man  to  take  ten 
thousand  dollars  over  the  mountains."  So 
if  we  trust  God,  we  must  have  confidence 
in  Him  that  He  will  do  as  He  says.  Have 
we  ?  Have  we  ever  put  Him  to  the  test  ? 
Have  we  ever  let  Him  into  our  hearts  that 
we  might  try  His  way  ^  Have  we  known 
Him  long  enough  to  judge  of  His  ways  and 
laws'? 

Now,  we  cannot  trust  Him  fully  unless 
we  know  Him  well.  We  cannot  know  Him 
well  unless  we  obey  His  commandments  and 
Christ's   words.     But   listen :    if  you   have 


*         TRUSTING  GOD  8i 

heard  some  man  highly  spoken  of  for  honor 
and  abihty,  you  feel  inclined  to  trust  him, 
even  though  you  have  had  no  personal  deal- 
ings with  him.  So  with  God  and  Christ; 
you  have  heard  others  testify  that  "  He  is 
able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed 
unto  Him  against  that  day." 

You  have  heard  others,  beside  me,  testify 
of  His  goodness  and  mercy.  Oh,  therefore, 
if  thou  be  one  who  knowest  Him  not  unto 
trusting  Him,  accept  Him  and  entrust  unto 
Him  your  heart,  your  life,  your  eternity! 
He  calleth  thee.  He  needeth  thee,  —  the 
Master  hath  need  of  thee.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye, 
for  why  will  ye  die  unsaved? 

If  we  trust  a  man,  he  pays  us  for  trusting 
him.  So  God  pays  us  with  blessings,  if  we 
trust  ourselves  to  Him  and  bow  our  heads 
and  hearts  to  His  will. 

Trust  Him  with  your  sorrow,  your  care, 
your  pain,  your  disappointment,  your  loss, 
your  distress,  your  bereavement,  your  weak- 
ness, your  temptation,  and  your  future  ;  trust 
Him  and  lay  your  trouble  down  at  the  feet 
of  God  and  do  not  pick  it  up  again !  Ah, 
there  is  the  test  of  true  trust !  Will  you  pick 
it  up  again  or  leave  it  there,  believing  ? 


82  THE   BEST  WAY 

Art  thou  an  invalid  ?  Thou  canst,  as  did 
Paul,  rise  to  the  height  of  glorying  in  thine 
infirmities.  God  will  help  thee  to  rise.  Per- 
chance infirmities  brought  thee  to  God. 

Are  you  trusting  God  with  your  future  ? 
If  you  are,  you  can  enjoy  life  as  you  go 
along ;  not  wait  until  you  have  made  so 
much,  till  you  are  married,  till  you  are  well, 
till  you  have  been  elected  to  office;  but  en- 
joy life  now.  Get  in  right  relations  with 
God,  so  you  can. 

Very  many  people  are  living  on  the  edge 
of  excitement,  living  in  the  future.  Worry- 
ing about  this  and  that,  not  trusting  God 
with  this  and  that.  Borrowing  trouble,  bor- 
rowing trouble  I  What  would  you  do  if  the 
fancied  trouble  never  came ?  "I  should  not 
like  to  pay  for  all  the  trouble  I  have  bor- 
rowed," said  a  friend.  Such  people  are  mort- 
gaging the  present,  and  so  lose  peace ;  they 
gain  nothing  when  the  future  comes,  because 
they  have  no  nerves  left  to  meet  it. 

Trust  Him  with  the  present;  the  best  way 
to  show  it  is  to  be  grateful  for  His  benefits 
now.  "  Count  your  blessings."  Compare 
your  lot  with  that  of  the  slum-dwellers. 

Trust  Him  with  the  past.    Divine  forgive- 


TRUSTING   GOD  83 

ness  can  make  the  past  as  a  white  piece  of 
paper,  without  condemnations. 

In  trusting  God  it  is  well  to  remember 
one  feature  of  this  law  divine,  and  that  is  that 
God  overrules  things  that  to  our  finite  minds 
seem  immutable,  helpless  and  hopeless,  into 
matters  surmounted,  overcome,  accomplished 
and  accompanied  with  hope.  To  fully  com- 
prehend the  advantage,  safety,  and  security  of 
trusting  God,  we  should  not  lose  sight  of 
His  overruling  power  and  His  willingness  to 
use  that  power  when  He  sees  it  is  for  our 
good. 

And  remember  that  He  is  also  able  to 
take  away  from  us  that  which  might  seem  to 
us  to  our  advantage,  because  in  his  greater 
wisdom  He  sees  that  for  us  to  keep  it  would 
work  to  our  harm. 

This  principle  of  overruling  works  two 
ways. 

Trusting  God  means  to  trust  when  you 
have  nothing  else  to  depend  on  save  God. 
There  are  times  when  neither  strength,  nor 
money,  nor  friends,  nor  influence,  nor  educa- 
tion can  avail.  Then  God  avails  and  pre- 
vails.    When  all  else  fails,  faith  fails  not 


84  THE   BEST   WAY 

Trusting  God  will  tell  to  your  credit  on 
the  last  day. 

See  that  man  with  head  bent  forward, 
looking  down  as  he  walks.  I  saw  him  the 
other  Sunday  in  Santa  Monica,  his  head  full 
of  plans,  and  beating  his  brains.  Doubtless 
his  plans  were  all  right,  but  he  was  not  trust- 
ing God  with  them.  He  was  depending 
wholly  on  himself  to  fulfil  them.  If  he  had 
taken  God  into  co-partnership  he  could  have 
done  all  his  part  without  so  straining  his 
brain;  for  faith  in  God  and  trust  in  Him 
would  ease  his  thought  and  lubricate  his 
plans. 

See  that  woman.  Something  in  the  past 
disturbs  her  peace.  Her  face  looks  sad  and 
a  great  weight  of  depression  hushes  her  hap- 
piness. She  did  not  do  as  she  would  be  done 
by. 

Oh !  let  us  be  wise  and  learn  by  observa- 
tion to  do  right  and  trust  in  God.  If  it 
hurts  us  to  do  right,  still  let  us  do  it. 

Have  you  a  lawsuit,  friend  ?     Then  trust 

it  with  God.    Leave  it  in  His  hands.    Leave 

the  outcome  with   Him.      Then  your  life 

^will  not  be  worried  out,  like  a  lighted  candle 

being  blown  by  a  draught.     But  to  do  this. 


TRUSTING  GOD  85 

a  man  himself  must  be  in  the  right.  So  to 
be  able  to  trust  to  God,  a  man  must  be  right 
himself. 

I  will  tell  you  something  that  will  help 
you  to  remember  to  trust  in  God  during  the 
days  to  come,  to  remind  you  that  you  have 
the  privilege  of  trusting  God.  Every  time 
a  half  dollar  comes  into  or  leaves  your  pos- 
session, be  reminded  of  the  fact  that  on  that 
coin  it  says  "  In  God  we  Trust ;  "  and  once 
in  a  while  please  ask  God  to  remember  me 
in  mercy  and  blessing. 

Have  I  said  enough  ^  Are  we  really  trust- 
ing God  ?     Do  we  grasp  the  meaning  *? 

To  trust  Him  means  to  believe  that  He 
will  bring  about  everything  to  your  best  ad- 
vantage if  you  put  your  case  in  His  hands; 
that  He  will  do  better  for  you  than  you 
could  do  for  yourself;  that  He  can  make  your 
life  a  life  of  beauty  and  a  joy  forever,  —  to 
you  and  to  Him  I 

Consider  this  !  It  will  revolutionize  your 
life  !  Consider  this,  you  who  have  no  earthly 
attractions  calling  you  on.  Heaven  will 
make  up  for  it  in  spiritual  gifts !  Consider 
this,  you  who  are  so  lonely ;  in  God  is  com- ' 
panionship.    Consider  this,  you  who  have  all 


86  THE  BEST  WAY 

things ;  that  without  confidence  in  God,  you 
have  nothing. 

As  for  me,  I  am  tired  of  handling  my 
own  case.  Disappointments  have  made  me 
come  to  believe  that  God  can  handle  it  better 
for  me.  I  have  come  to  the  end  of  my  con- 
ceit. "  Lean  not  to  thine  own  understand- 
ing" it  is  written.  In  the  last  words  of 
Christ,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commit 
my  spirit,"  I  see  hope  for  you  and  for  me, 
and  wisdom,  and  I  cry,  "  O  God,  into  Thy 
care  I  commit  my  case,  my  life.  I  trust 
Thee,  help  Thou  my  lack  of  trust." 

Let  us  trust  God !  Can  we  ?  Aye,  a 
thousand  times,  aye  !  Heaven  is  with  us  to 
strengthen  our  determination,  to  reenforce 
our  resolves,  to  come  to  our  help  and  rescue. 
Come  nigh,  angel  of  the  Most  High  I  Help 
me  to  do  right  so  that  I  can  fully  trust ! 

Trusting  God  is  living:  not  trusting  is 
slow  death. 

What  will  we  get  if  we  do  not  trust 
Him? 


THE   STILL,  SMALL   VOICE   OF 
GOD 


THE  STILL,    SMALL  VOICE  OF 
GOD 

Read   i   Kings  xix.   1-12,    Romans  viii.    13-16,  John 
xvi.  7-14,  and  Hebrews  iv.  12,  and  Matt,  xxvii.  57. 

From  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  voice 
of  God  has  been  prominent  in  great  events, 
great  to  the  world  in  general  and  to  indi- 
viduals in  particular.  God  said,  "  Let  there 
be  light,"  and  there  was  light.  Again  and 
again  in  the  creation  He  used  His  voice, 
and  all  Nature  obeyed. 

Sometimes  He  would  speak  from  Heaven, 
fi-om  a  cloud,  from  a  mountain,  from  fire,  and 
generally  through  the  early  centuries  or  thou- 
sands of  years  related  by  the  Bible  He  spoke 
in  a  great  and  mighty  voice.  Only  once  in 
that  period  does  the  record  mention  His 
speaking  with  a  still,  small  voice.  The  Old 
Testament  presages  many  of  the  things  that 
came  to  pass  in  the  New,  and  this  mention 
of  the  still,  small  voice  in  the  Old  finds  its 


90  THE  BEST  WAY 

greater  fulfilment  in  the  days  since  Christ, 
when  the  Comforter  came. 

Now  before  Christ,  God's  commands  to 
men  required  an  outward  rather  than  an  in- 
ward observance,  at  least  more  stress  was  laid 
on  the  former  until  after  Christ's  coming. 
Before  Christ,  outward  sin  was  condemned  : 
but  Christ  condemned  sinful  thoughts  even, 
unenacted,  inward  sins. 

Before  Christ,  men  had  to  make  animal  sac- 
rifices for  their  sins,  they  had  to  perform 
vows  in  public;  with  Christ's  personal  sacri- 
fice, the  altar's  victims  ceased,  and  the  con- 
trite heart  placed  upon  the  altar  Jesus  Christ 
took  their  place. 

*'  Not  all  the  blood  of  beasts  on  Jewish  altars  slain 

Could  give  the  guilty  conscience  rest  or  take  away  the 

stain; 
But  Christ,  the  Heavenly  lamb,  takes  all  our  sin  away, 
A  sacrifice  of  nobler  name  and  richer  blood  than  they." 

When  Christ  came,  the  audible  voice  of  God 
was  heard  at  His  baptism  by  the  physical 
sense  of  hearing.  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,"  and  again  at 
the  Transfiguration  sounded  the  same  great 
voice  and  from  a  bright  cloud  came  the  same 
words,  with  "  Hear  ye  Him  "  added.     But 


THE   STILL,  SMALL  VOICE  OF   GOD     91 

after  Christ's  ascension  to  Heaven  there  is 
rarely  any  record,  I  beUeve,  of  any  audible 
voice  of  God  to  the  physical  ear,  up  to  this 
our  time  (though  Paul  and  John  heard  it)  ; 
but  instead  of  the  audible  voice  to  the  ear 
there  was  firmly  established  by  God  the  still, 
small  voice  of  the  Spirit,  He  Himself,  which 
was  audible  to  the  soul  and  to  the  conscious- 
ness, of  which  it  is  written,  "  The  Spirit  it- 
self beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we 
are  the  children  of  God."  This  great  gift  to 
men  is  the  source  of  assurance  of  hope  in 
Heaven,  of  a  conviction  that  we  are  born 
again  and  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

Now,  Adam,  Moses,  Samuel,  Ezekiel, 
Daniel,  John,  Paul,  and  others  heard  God's 
audible  voice.  God  seems  to  have  chosen 
to  speak  aloud  on  great  occasions,  when 
great  good  could  be  done  thereby,  or  when 
He  saw  it  was  needed,  perhaps :  and  it  may 
be  it  will  be  heard  again  during  the  centuries 
that  are  left  unto  this  world.  But  great  thanks 
be  to  our  God,  any  one  of  us  who  will  can 
hear  His  still,  small  voice  in  the  soul  day  by 
day. 

I  believe  Satan  also  spoke  out  loud.  I 
think  he  did  to  Eve  and  to  Christ.     It  may 


92  THE  BEST  WAY 

be  he  did  to  Martin  Luther  at  the  time  he 
tempted  him  in  his  room,  when  he  was  writ- 
ing those  words  which  were  to  revolutionize 
the  world  for  God,  when  he  threw  his  ink- 
stand at  the  Devil. 

This  spirit  of  God,  the  third  person  of  the 
adorable  Trinity,  speaks  peace  to  the  soul 
when  we  repent  and  believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  speaks  in  a  still,  small 
voice.     It  is  as  real  as  if  it  were  audible. 

In  the  experience  of  human  lives  men 
hear  two  voices  in  the  soul  warring  against 
each  other.  What  is  the  explanation  of  this  *? 
Satan  was  once  an  angel  in  Heaven,  trusted 
and  used  by  God.  He  disobeyed  and  was 
thrust  out  of  Heaven ;  ever  since  that  day, 
he  and  his  legions  of  evil  spirits  have  sought 
to  undo  the  work  of  God  in  the  souls  and 
hearts  of  men. 

One  of  Satan's  most  common  methods  is 
to  imitate  God's  voice.  Longfellow  quotes 
an  old  adage,  "  Satan  apes  God." 

Remember  how  Satan  said  to  Eve,  "  Ye 
shall  not  surely  die,"  and  how  in  the  tempta- 
tion of  Christ  he  said  to  Him,  after  he  had 
taken  Him  up  on  to  an  exceedingly  high 
mountain    and  showed   Him  all  the  king- 


THE   STILL,  SMALL  VOICE  OF  GOD     93 

doms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them, 
"  All  these  things  will  I  give  Thee  if  Thou 
wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me." 

Christ  said,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan." 
Here  we  have  contrasted  the  two  voices, 
good  and  evil. 

Thus  we  see  that  Satan  speaks  to  men  as 
well  as  God  does.  We  all  know  this;  in 
various  forms  of  temptation  he  whispers  to 
draw  us  away  from  God  and  to  plunge  us 
into  sins  headlong,  to  his  victory  and  our 
defeat,  to  our  sorrow  and  remorse  and  awful 
punishment.     Is  it  not  sadly  so  ^ 

Now  these  two  voices  in  the  soul ;  how 
can  we  distinguish  between  them '?  Gener- 
ally our  Christian  conscience  quickly  tells  us 
which  is  which;  but  indirectly  the  Bible 
gives  us  wisdom  here.  Sometimes  Satan 
imitates  God  so  closely  that  it  is  necessary 
for  us  to  try  the  spirit  to  see  whether  he  be 
of  God  or  the  devil.  If  the  influence  of  the 
spirit,  if  the  result  of  the  listening  to  the 
spirit's  voice  brings  us  peaceful,  calm,  restful, 
assuring  thoughts,  and  inspires  us  to  gentle, 
loving,  tender  communion  with  Jesus,  we  can 
feel  that  the  voice  is  of  God.  If,  however, 
the  results  of  listening  to  the  voice  at  first 


94  THE   BEST  WAY 

are  peaceful  and  quieting,  but  soon  give  rise 
to  doubts  and  warring,  confusing  thoughts 
as  to  whether  we  have  done  right,  and  accus- 
ing convictions  arise  in  us,  then  we  can  be- 
lieve we  listened  to  the  wrong  voice.  We 
should  recall  the  scripture,  "  There  is  a  way 
which  seemeth  right  unto  a  man,  but  the  end 
thereof  are  the  ways  of  death." 

I  think  we  should  distinguish  between  the 
conscience  and  the  before  named  supernatu- 
ral voices.  I  believe  certain  poets  have  called 
the  conscience  the  voice  of  God.  It  seems 
to  me  the  conscience  is  the  natural  voice 
within  man,  and  the  voice  of  God  the  super- 
natural :  the  conscience  is  what  guides  us 
naturally  {con  and  scio)^  but  the  voice  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  what  we  know  with  super- 
naturally.  It  is  a  distinction  almost  as  deli- 
cate as  that  between  soul  and  spirit. 

The  conscience  is  an  element  of  the  mind, 
the  still,  small  voice  is  an  element  of  the  soul. 
The  capacity  to  apprehend  the  voice  of  God 
is  an  element  of  the  soul. 

The  soul  is  inherent  in  man  from  the  very 
beginning  of  man.  The  spirit  is  what 
God  breathed  in  the  nostrils  of  Adam.  By 
this  breath  the    soul  became  immortalized. 


THE  STILL,  SMALL  VOICE  OF  GOD    95 

The  soul  is  natural,  the  spirit  supernatural. 
The  soul  without  the  spirit  would  have  been 
mortal ;  it  became  immortal.  God  breathed 
into  it  the  spark  of  immortality.  The  soul 
is  a  natural  element,  the  spirit  a  supernatural 
element.  When  man  became  a  living  soul, 
the  natural  soul  was  spiritualized  and  made 
eternally  alive. 

So  it  seems  to  me. 

It  is  this  spark  of  divinity  that  gives  man 
peculiar  power  over  the  animal  kingdom. 

The  conscience  is  sometimes  called  dead, 
but  the  spirit  of  God  never  dies.  According  to 
our  Christian  cultivation  our  conscience  is 
awake  or  sleeping.  A  man's  conscience  forbids 
him  to  work  on  Sunday.  Another's  does  not, 
because  he  may  have  been  born  in  Africa's 
wilds.  The  conscience  tells  us  what  we 
should  do  after  we  know  what  we  ought  to 
do.  The  African's  conscience  tells  him  what 
he  ought  to  do  according  to  the  limits  of 
his  philosophy  of  life. 

The  conscience  is  an  element  of  the  mind, 
but  it  is  awakened  by  the  coming  of  the 
Comforter,  and  so  it  is  allied  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  if  we  will.  As  Paul  says,  "  my  con- 
science also  bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy 


96  THE  BEST  WAY 

Ghost."  The  conscience  may  be  weak,  un- 
developed, evil,  defiled,  even  seemingly  dead, 
but  it  can  be  strengthened,  developed,  en- 
nobled, and  made  alive  by  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Paul  speaks  of  "  conscience  of 
the  idol,"  or,  as  I  understand,  the  conscience 
a  man  has  who  worships  idols:  as  in  the 
African's  case  above,  the  conscience  is  weak 
or  almost  dead,  but  the  coming  of  the  Com- 
forter makes  the  conscience  alive. 

Have  you  received  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 

The  still,  small  voice  is  equivalent  to  the 
Comforter,  the  Holy  Ghost,  God. 

The  word  conscience  is  not  used  in  the 
Old  Testament.  Of  course  it  is  a  Gentile 
word,  but  was  its  equivalent  used?  That 
used  to  seem  strange  to  me.  After  the  Com- 
forter came,  when  Christ  ascended,  the  word 
came  to  be  used,  "  of  a  good  conscience  " 
and  the  like.  It  seems  to  me  the  conscience 
was  in  man,  but  the  Comforter,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  awakened  it  into  new  possibilities 
through  Christ  and  Christ's  resurrection. 

The  Dictionary  says,  "Conscience  is  the 
power  or  faculty  in  man  by  which  he  dis- 
tinguishes between  right  and  wrong  in  con- 
duct and  character."     Yes,  but  it  has  to  be 


THE   STILL,  SMALL  VOICE  OF   GOD    97 

christianized  to  make  it  trustworthy;  this  the 
Holy  Spirit  does  when  sought. 

But  the  voice  of  God,  the  still,  small  voice 
of  God,  not  only  gives  us  wisdom,  but  guid- 
ance and  warning  and  instruction  that  do  not 
come  within  the  province  or  abilities  of  the 
conscience. 

To  hold  our  thought  to  our  theme,  let  us 
again  remember  that  while  there  have  been 
times  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  God 
for  some  especial  purpose  raised  His  voice  to 
a  grandeur  most  wonderful,  yet  in  our  days 
He  speaks  in  a  still,  small  voice  to  the  soul. 
Before  Christ,  much  of  worship  was  outward, 
the  visible  sacrifice  of  the  lamb  without 
blemish ;  but  when  the  Holy  Lamb  was  sac- 
rificed for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  and  for- 
ever, came  the  stress  of  the  contrite  heart ;  it 
changed  in  a  measure  from  the  outward  to 
the  inward.  "  The  Kingdom  of  God  is 
within  you."  Once  in  the  olden  days  God 
spoke  in  a  still,  small  voice  as  if  to  justify  our 
believing  His  voice  in  these  latter  days. 

The  still,  small  voice  of  God  counsels  us 
to  be  unselfish,  to  cultivate  the  soul,  to  do 
good  deeds,  to  imitate  Christ;  and  whispers 
that  we  shall  get  credit  for  these  things,  and 


98  THE  BEST  WAY 

that  a  great  reward  awaits  us  In  Heaven  if 
we  do  them,  as  well  as  great  rewards  in  the 
inner  consciousness  here  on  this  earth. 

I  remember  having  heard  Dr.  E.  S.  Chap- 
man tell  of  two  sons  in  Ohio.  Their  father 
had  died  and  left  an  estate  which  was  to  be 
settled  up  gradually,  until  at  the  end  of  five 
years  it  was  to  be  distributed  equally  to  the 
two  sons.  Each  year  one  fifth  was  to  be 
divided. 

One  of  the  sons  had  heard  about  Califor- 
nia and  believed  in  it :  he  wanted  to  get 
there;  he  wanted  to  escape  the  rigors  of 
winter.  So  he  sent  on  his  first  part  of  the 
money  to  California  and  bought  a  piece 
of  land,  and  began  to  have  it  cultivated 
and  planted  to  an  orchard  by  an  agent.  Each 
year  he  would  spend  more  money  on  it, 
until  at  the  end  of  five  years  he  had  water 
developed,  a  house  built,  the  orchards  bear- 
ing, and  the  ranch  stocked  and  fenced. 
When  at  the  end  of  five  years  he  came  to 
California  his  home  awaited  him,  complete 
in  all  details  of  use  and  beauty. 

But  the  other  son,  when  his  money  came 
in  from  the  father's  estate,  took  it  and  with 


THE   STILL,  SMALL  VOICE  OF  GOD    99 

his  young  friends  scattered  it  abroad  in 
foolish  living.  The  habit  grew  on  him  and 
so  at  the  end  of  five  years  he  had  about 
nothing  to  his  credit.  He,  too,  at  the  end  of 
that  time  went  to  California,  but  nothing 
awaited  him  there,  no  ranch,  no  home, 
nothing  beautiful  to  attract  him.  He  had 
lost  all. 

So  will  it  be,  comrades,  when  we  leave  the 
Ohio  of  this  world  and  go  to  the  California 
of  Eternity. 

The  still,  small  voice  assures  us  of  eternal 
life  as  we  go  along  day  by  day.  We  who 
are  born  again  have  eternal  life;  we  have 
begun  it  now ;  it  lasts  through  eternity. 

I  have  heard  of  an  infidel  scientist  who 
was  dying.  He  had  said  nature  was  enough 
to  supply  a  man's  needs.  But  he  lay  dying, 
and  he  gasped  for  life.  A  Christian  friend  of 
his  came  to  his  bedside  and  said  to  him, 
when  the  dying  man  stated  he  wanted  to 
live,  "  How  long  do  you  want  to  live ;  another 
year  *?  "  "  No,"  the  man  said,  "  death  is  so 
dreadful  I  want  to  live  always,  to  never  die." 
"Does  nature  give  you  all  you  want'?" 
"No,"  the  man  replied,  "  I  want  life."  "  Well," 


loo  THE   BEST   WAY 

the  other  said,  "  become  a  Christian  and 
you  will  live  forever  and  be  satisfied  with 
death,  since,  to  the  Christian,  it  only  begins 
the  life  of  Eternity  in  Heaven." 

Ah,  the  still,  small  voice  speaks  peace  to 
the  soul  when  dreadful  death  heaves  in  sight 
like  a  black  ship  bearing  down  upon  you  in 
the  fog  to  crush  and  destroy. 


Have  you  heard  the  still,  small  voice  of 
God  in  conviction  and  conversion?  No*? 
Then  rest  not  till  you  have  heard  it.  "  Seek 
and  ye  shall  find."  "  Though  your  sins  be 
as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow." 

Do  you  know  your  sins  are  forgiven "?  Do 
you  feel  the  need  of  a  Saviour  and  yet  seem 
helpless?  "Man's  extremity  is  God's  op- 
portunity." Look  and  live.  Believe  and  be 
saved.     He  is  here  to  forgive  and  bless. 

Have  you  heard  the  still,  small  voice  ? 
Has  the  Comforter  come  to  you  ?  Into  your 
soul  and  into  your  life  ? 

What  is  it  that  makes  a  noise  in  the 
soul?  that  drowns  the  still,  small  voice  of 
God?  that  hides  His  face  and  veils  His 
presence  ? 


THE   STILL,  SMALL  VOICE   OF  GOD     loi 

Ah  I  to  many  the  warring  noise  in  the 
soul  is  caused  by  wrongs  done  and  not 
righted,  by  a  lack  and  neglect  of  confession. 
Oh,  confess  your  sins  to  God  out  of  a  re- 
pentant heart,  and  to  one  another,  and  undo 
what  wrong  you  have  done.  That  stops  the 
noise  in  the  soul.  Then  you  can  hear  on  the 
telephone  the  voice  of  God  as  it  comes  to 
the  ear  of  your  soul. 

Let  us  get  near  to  God,  so  we  can  hear 
His  voice.  Let  us  thank  Him  before  we  go 
to  do  anything.  "  I  thank  Thee,  Lord." 
"In  everything  give  thanks;  for  this  is  the 
will  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  you." 
Let  us  commune  with  God  more.  Let  us 
talk  with  Him  more  often. 

Do  we  do  so  ?  "  Not  very  well."  "  Not 
very  often." 

Then  we  cannot  complain  if  we  do  not 
hear  His  voice  often  enough  to  recognize  it. 

"  It  don't  work,"  you  say  ?  Ah,  but  you 
don't  get  near  enough  to  hear  Him.  Stand 
up  close  to  the  'phone,  put  your  ear  close  to 
the  receiver  of  His  law  and  the  words  of 
Christ.  Then  you  will  hear  it.  Are  you 
like  a  little  child  in  your  faith  and  trust  to- 
ward God,  in  your  simplicity  ? 


I02  THE  BEST  WAY 

Get  nearer  to  God.  Then  He  will  hear  and 
answer,  and  you  will  know  His  voice.  Stand- 
ing afar  off,  can  He  hear  you  ?  Can  a  man 
in  New  York  hear  you  speaking  in  Chicago  *? 
Nay,  except  by  'phone,  and  you  have  to  pay 
to  use  it.  So  with  God ;  get  near  Him  in 
simplicity  and  sincerity,  or  piety,  which  is  the 
price  of  using  the  divine  telephone. 

Yes,  God  has  a  telephone ;  you  have  to 
pay  to  use  it.  The  charge  is  purity,  unself- 
ishness, humility,  faith  and  works,  combined 
with  Christlikeness.    Ah,  but  it  is  worth  it ! 

Again  ask  Him  to  speak  to  your  soul. 
Can  you  expect  an  answer  from  one  of  whom 
you  do  not  ask  a  reply"? 

When  we  pray,  we  should  ever  wait  for 
an  answer  in  the  soul  from  God. 

Let  us  keep  God  on  our  side.  "  How  can 
we*?"  By  always  keeping  on  His  side. 
You  see,  when  we  have  wronged  a  man  or 
have  been  mean  to  him,  we  do  not  feel  we 
can  go  to  him  and  ask  a  favor  ;  that  wrong 
stands  between  him  and  us.  We  must  first 
confess  to  him  and  ask  him  to  forgive.  So 
it  is  with  God.  Let  us  ever  keep  on  God's 
side,  then  we  won't  have  to  stop  to  ask  for- 
giveness, but  rather  so  Hve  that  we  can  com- 


THE  STILL,  SMALL  VOICE  OF  GOD     103 

mune  with  Him  at  once  and  hear  His  still, 
small  voice  in  guidance  and  counsel. 

The  voice  of  God  will  guide  and  counsel 
and  comfort  to-morrow  as  well  as  to-day,  I 
have  faith  to  believe,  and  so  I  rest  in  faith, 
and  faith  brings  rest.  That  sweet  voice  will 
be  with  me  on  my  last  bed,  if  I  am  faithful, 
and  "  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord  " 
will  bring  me  peace.  Woe  be  unto  me,  or 
any,  if  we  hear  not  this  encouragement  at 
the  time  of  the  transition  of  the  soul. 

"  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice,  har- 
den not  your  heart ;  "  "  If  any  man  hear 
my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in 
to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with 
me." 

Come !  let  us  humble  ourselves.  Let  us 
be  where  the  still,  small  voice  can  be  heard, 
where  we  can  receive  inspired  thoughts  to 
glorify  our  days.  Come  !  let  us  adorn  our- 
selves with  purity,  unselfishness,  and  humility, 
that  we  may  be  fit  for  the  coming  of  the 
Comforter.  He  speaks,  though  Conqueror,  in 
a  still,  small  voice.  Himself  "  the  best  sym- 
bol of  humility." 

Oh,  come  !  Let  us  follow  the  right  voice 
and  heed  His  calling ;   He  is  calling,  calling 


104  THE  BEST  WAY 

yet !  He  will  lead  you  into  pleasant  paths 
and  introduce  you  to  joys  unthinkable.  The 
paths  may  have  briars  now  and  then  by  their 
sides,  but  if  you  keep  right  in  the  path,  they 
will  not  prick  you. 

Acquaint  yourself  with  this  voice  and  you 
will  know  the  voice  of  your  Shepherd,  and 
will  follow  Him  in  safety  to  the  home  above. 

Come,  O  great  God !  speak  to  each  of 
us  to-day ;  come  and  direct  our  paths,  and 
give  us  the  comfort  of  Thy  presence !  For- 
give, and  come. 

O  may  Thy  still,  small  voice  graciously 
guide  us  with  Thy  counsels,  with  Thy  words 
of  comfort  and  harmony,  echoes  of  heavenly 
strains,  drops  of  wisdom  from  afar,  lights  of 
glory  illuminating  our  way,  guidance  from 
the  great  Guide,  soft  peace  pillowing  our 
weary  heads ! 

O  God  wilt  Thou  not  speak  peace  to  us 
just  now  ? 


THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE 


THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE 

What  makes  me  feel  sorry  for  a  man  is 
to  hear  him  say,  "  Oh  yes,  you  talk  about 
Heaven  and  God;  I  know  just  as  much 
about  it  as  you  do,  and  no  one  knows  any- 
thing: it  is  only  surmise." 

What  nonsense  I 

A  lawyer  might  as  well  go  to  a  surgeon 
and  say,  "Oh  yes,  all  the  surgery  and  surgi- 
cal knowledge  you  have  is  imagination ;  I 
know  as  much  about  it  as  you  do,  and  no  one 
knows  anything  about  surgery  :  it  is  all  spec- 
ulation." 

What !  Have  I  sought  God  these  seven- 
teen years,  yet  know  nothing  ?  When  He 
Himself  says  He  is  to  be  known  ?  Then 
indeed  am  I  a  numskull. 

That  which  also  makes  me  feel  sad  for  a 
man's  ignorance  is  this :  A  gentleman  takes 
up  the  morning  paper  and  reads,  "  Henry 
G.  Wolf  was  arrested  last  evening  on  a 
charge  of  having  embezzled  three  thousand 


io8  THE  BEST  WAY 

dollars  from  the  Overtrust  Land  Company  of 
which  he  was  the  trusted  treasurer.  His  pro- 
minence in  church  circles  makes  the  arrest  a 
very  sensational  one." 

The  excited  gentleman  then  exclaims  to 
his  wife,  as  his  glasses  drop  off  his  nose, 
"Well,  now,  just  listen  to  that!  The  old 
hypocrite!  And  he  has  been  posing  as  a 
saint  and  a  leader  in  charities  ever  since  we 
came  to  the  city !  Well,  that  lets  me  out  of 
religion.  The  churches !  Pshaw !  These 
church  people  are  no  better  than  any  one 
else,  and  not  half  as  good  as  we  are,  wife.  / 
never  stole  a  cent ! " 

And  the  wife  adds,  "  It  is  just  disgust- 
ing!" 

The  next  Sunday  they  do  not  attend 
church. 

Now  the  trouble  with  these  people  who 
so  condemn  religion,  the  Scriptures  inci- 
dentally, the  churches  and  professors  of 
religion,  is  that  they  forget  that  these  same 
Scriptures  and  this  same  Christian  doctrine 
specially  declares  that  there  will  be  wolves 
in  sheep's  clothing  in  the  churches;  and 
then  when  something  like  H.  G.  Wolf's 
case  occurs,  they  forget  that  it  is  according 
to  Scripture. 


THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE  109 

But  know  this,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scoffer,  that 
were  there  not  some  sincere  people  who  fear 
God  and  obey  His  precepts  pretty  well,  the 
church  could  not  hold  together.  It  would 
soon  go  to  pieces.     Yet  see  how  it  lasts  ! 

It  is  the  same  with  a  lodge.  Did  you 
ever  know  a  lodge  without  its  black  sheep 
or  one  that  was  a  little  off  color  *? 

Another  man  I  feel  sorry  for  is  he  who 
says,  "  Oh,  I  have  a  peculiar  kind  of  religion. 
My  religion  is  to  do  as  I  would  be  done  by; 
that  is  all."  That  is  good,  friend,  as  far  as  it 
goes,  but  if  you  have  not  been  born  again 
and  your  past  sins  forgiven,  that  will  not 
carry  you  through  the  pearly  gates.  You 
have  got  to  have  something  besides  what 
you  do  to  carry  you  through ;  you  have  got 
to  have  faith  in  Christ.  Listen,  —  in  love  I 
tell  you,  —  I  am  afraid  your  religion,  if  it  is 
only  what  you  have  mentioned,  will  not 
satisfy  you  on  your  last  bed. 

Ah !  "  if  death  were  the  end,  death  would 
be  deified  and  worshipped ; "  but  instead, 
men  fear  the  grave  unless  they  are  saved  by 
Christ,  and  the  consequent  release  from  dread 
takes  away  that  fear,  casts  it  out,  and  hope 
come  in  its  place. 


no  THE  BEST  WAY 

The  present  fashionable  wile  of  Satan  is  to 
make  it  popular  to  say,  "  I  have  got  beyond 
the  fear  of  death,  and  have  grown  more  inter- 
ested in  life's  problems."  Be  not  deceived. 
Remember  what  the  serpent  said  to  Eve. 

Life  would  be  unbearable  were  it  not  for 
hope.  At  times  we  could  not  stand  our  life 
had  we  no  hope.  Aye,  many  die  because 
they  just  "give  up,"  which  is  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  "give  up  the  ghost."  They  have  no 
hope  to  call  them  on,  to  make  life  worth  liv- 
ing. So  they  die  I  And  in  death  they  find 
a  horrible  life  eternal. 

Is  death  the  end*? 

When  we  speak  about  hope  to-day,  we 
know  whereof  we  speak,  and  are  constrained 
to  believe  that  a  man  without  hope  is  hope- 
less and  homeless  in  so  far  as  Heaven  is 
concerned ;  and  every  one  is  concerned  in 
regard  to  Heaven,  whether  he  admits  it,  or 
not. 

Hopeless  and  homeless,  without  a  deed  to 
a  home  in  Heaven,     Alas,  alas  for  thee  ! 

But  I  bring  you  good  news  !  The  deed 
is  ready  to  be  executed.  God  will  sign  it, 
if  you  will  only  give  Him  your  heart  in  pay- 
ment. 


THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE  iii 

Is  hope  in  your  heart  ? 

"  Yes,  the  ecstasy  of  hope  is  mine,"  says 
one. 

Havejyoa  hope? 

"  Nay,  I  have  not  hope,"  another  says. 

Why,  what  is  the  matter  ? 

Oh,  get  hope !  Hope  comes  as  a  result  of 
repentance  and  giving  your  heart  to  God 
through  Christ,  resolving  to  lead  a  Christian 
life. 

Christianity  is  essentially  hope,  a  religion 
of  hope ;  under  its  inspiration  something 
beautiful  beckons  us  on  all  the  time,  more 
and  more  until  the  perfect  day.  This  sys- 
tem of  hope  fulfils  the  natural  instinct  of 
accumulation  which  is  within  us,  for  by  it 
we  are  taught  to  lay  up  treasure  in  Heaven, 
and  are  assured  we  receive  credits  for  all  the 
good  we  think,  or  say,  or  do.  It  fulfils  the 
hope  of  gain. 

This  system,  organized  by  the  Creator, 
promises  delights  in  Heaven  far  more  de- 
sirable than  Mahomet  pictured.  His  were 
sensuous.  God's  are  spiritual,  intellectual, 
ethereal,  heavenly ;  and  yet,  remembering 
our  physical  condition  and  appealing  to  that, 
God  promises  us  the  tree   which  on  itself 


112  THE  BEST  WAY 

bears  the  fruit  of  all  trees :  and  this  example 
of  what  is  in  store  for  us  in  Heaven  to  delight 
our  physical  condition  is  chosen  by  God  as 
the  most  refined  of  all  physical  desires, — the 
fruit  of  the  tree. 

Hope  !     I  love  that  word. 

Hope  is  the  ladder  to  joy.  Ah !  I  have 
found  a  good  thing !  or,  as  they  say  in  these 
money  days,  I  have  found  a  good  bargain, 
to  get  much  for  little,  —  to  get  hope  for 
being  good,  and  the  hope  will  increase  in 
value  as  the  years  go  by.  But  have  I  told 
the  whole  truth?  Is  being  good  a  little 
thing  *?  No,  it  is  not ;  it  is  a  great  thing  to 
do,  —  to  be  good.  Yet  when  we  have  at- 
tained some  degree  of  goodness,  the  hope  we 
have  seems  far  greater  than  its  price, — 
piety. 

If  Satan  ever  tempts  you  to  get  blue,  do 
not  forget  to  call  in  hope  to  your  rescue 
and  quickly  have  regard  to  the  recompense 
of  your  reward;  if  you  but  keep  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  your  heart,  you  can  drive  tempta- 
tion away  through  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  That  is  the  way  to  drive  away  the 
blues.     That  is  the  use  of  hope. 

The  hope  of  harvest  makes  the  ploughing 


THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE  113 

easier :  the  hope  of  Heaven  makes  our  tribu- 
lations bearable. 

Hope  is  wages;  get  full  hope  and  full 
wages  by  doing  full  Christ-work. 

When  an  orchard  or  vineyard  gets  dis- 
eased and  will  not  bear  fruit,  the  orchardist 
goes  among  his  trees  and  digs  down  around 
the  roots  to  see  what  is  the  matter.  The 
root-knot,  or  white  ants,  or  something  may 
be  the  cause.  But  he  digs  down  and  saws 
off  the  knots,  or  puts  lye  on  the  ants,  and  all 
goes  well.  Let  us  also  saw  off  the  skin-knots 
and  put  lye  on  the  little  ant-faults  at  the  root 
of  our  life-tree.  Ah,  then  we  should  soon 
have  hope  and  bear  fruit  in  Christ, 

Prune-trees  near  the  coast  do  not  thrive. 
Cut  off  the  tops  and  bud  them  into  apricot- 
trees,  which  will  do  well.  Then  the  tree 
thrives.  So,  cut  off  your  useless,  idle,  waste- 
ful sins  and  bud  on  Christ,  and  you  will  then 
have  hope  and  bear  good  fruit. 

The  Christian  Life,  the  Life  of  Hope,  is 
the  only  life  worth  living,  but  let  it  be  re- 
membered that  this  life  does  not  preclude,  or 
forbid,  the  intellectual  Hfe,  the  business  life, 
or  the  professional  life. 


114  THE  BEST  WAY 

They  can  be  lived  together  in  company. 
The  Christian  life  sanctifies  the  other,  which 
of  itself  is  already  good,  but  not  the  best. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the 
intellectual,  the  professional,  the  business,  or 
the  homespun  life  are  not  worth  living  with- 
out the  Christ-Life ;  yet  with  it  they  become 
glorified  and  glorious,  lives  for  which  it  is 
good  to  have  been  born. 

"  Oh  yes,  if  you  live  this  Christ-Life,  this 
Life  of  Hope,  you  have  to  give  up  every- 
thing else  worth  having,"  says  a  very  mis- 
taken person, 

"  Give  up  ?  "  Why  the  Life  of  Hope  is 
the  very  ticket  to  admit  you  to  all  attractions 
that  deserve  the  name. 

"  Give  up  everything  worth  having  ? " 
Why  I  you  only  give  up  those  things  that 
are  not  worth  having,  that  do  you  harm. 

Look  at  that  man's  face  !  You  can  read 
his  controlling  thought.  There  is  no  hope 
of  Heaven  written  there  ! 

Look  at  that  woman's  face  as  she  looks  up 
from  the  reading  of  an  unworthy  novel !  Is 
hope  written  there  *?  No,  but  discontent  and 
evil.  Look  at  her  face  again.  Would  it 
do  for  a  Saint  Cecilia  at  the  organ  ?     If  we 


THE  ECSTASY   OF   HOPE  115 

work  for  the  soul,  we  must  quit  reading  those 
things  which  hurt  the  soul. 

The  countenance  is  an  expression  of  the 
condition  of  the  soul,  just  as  the  eyes  are  its 
windows. 

When  you  are  about  to  have  your  photo- 
graph taken,  spend  all  the  preceding  hours 
with  God.  Get  filled  with  His  Spirit.  Then 
sit,  seeking  to  please  God  and  not  the  world, 
oblivious  of  the  artist,  remembering  only 
God.  Have  hope  in  your  face ;  then  it  will 
be  beautiful,  even  though  you  are  homely. 

What  dims  our  hope  *? 

Here  is  one  thing,  and  also  a  way  to  escape 
its  influence. 

If  you  know  that  any  one,  near  by  or  at  a 
distance,  is  thinking  evil  of  you,  you  can 
overcome  the  influence  of  such  thoughts  and 
drive  them  away  by  asking  God  to  bless  the 
one  or  those  so  thinking.  Such  a  prayer  is 
a  safeguard  against  evil  thoughts.  God  will 
not  let  the  evil  reach  you,  if  you  so  pray. 
Sometimes  when  you  have  hope,  your  envi- 
ronment is  not  congenial  to  hope,  and  may 
be  disastrous  to  it,  unless  you  look  out,  and 
so  pray. 

Also,  if,  alas !  you  yourself  ever  think  an 


ii6  THE  BEST  WAY 

evil,  unkind,  or  uncharitable  thought  of  an- 
other, begin  at  once  to  ask  the  forgiveness 
of  God,  and  then  pray  for  the  one  your  mind 
went  out  against,  that  he  may  be  blessed. 
Thus  you  can  drive  away  from  you  this  evil, 
which  dims  your  hope. 

Now  confession  is  an  important  element 
in  hope.  Hope  hesitates  till  confession  pre- 
cedes it.  Hope  comes  from  God,  and  to 
receive  anything  from  Him,  we  must  be- 
come reconciled  to  our  Lord,  for  all  have 
sinned.  The  reconciliation  to  God  requires 
confession.  We  must  confess  our  sins  to 
God  and  to  those  whom  we  have  wronged, 
except  in  the  rare  case  when  such  latter  con- 
fession adds  fuel  to  the  fire. 

You  know  how  it  is  with  a  person ;  when 
any  one  has  accused  you  falsely  or  done  you 
other  harm,  you  can  never  feel  really  recon- 
ciled to  such  a  one  until  he  has  asked  you  to 
forgive  him,  confessing  that  he  was  in  the 
wrong.  Confession  drives  the  evil  away, 
for  evil  cannot  bear  the  presence  of  Christian 
sincerity. 

Neither  is  a  complete  reconciliation  possi- 
ble until  the  one  at  fault  makes  reparation 
by  an  acknowledgment,  no  matter  how  much 


THE  ECSTASY  OF   HOPE  117 

the  innocent  party  may  desire  a  reconcili- 
ation. Now  this  is  an  explanation  of  the 
philosophy  of  confession  preceding  recon- 
ciliation between  God  and  man. 

Hope  is  like  a  perennial  springtime,  when 
Nature  is  promising  what  she  will  do  for 
mankind  and  fulfilling  the  assurance  each 
day,  giving  a  dividend  in  the  growth  of  the 
grass,  payable  every  twenty-four  hours. 

Hope  ever  whispers  to  the  listening  ear 
encouragement  and  contentment.  As  music 
touches  all  the  strings  of  the  human  heart,  so 
hope  thrills  into  joy  all  the  feelings  of  the 
mind,  and  so  sweet  is  the  joy  that  it  leaves 
happiness  and  delight  behind.  Hope  from 
Heaven  is  ever  new;  a  brand-new  hope 
born  in  the  mind  of  God  is  wafted  in  tele- 
phonic message  from  above  the  azure  sky 
each  time  you  call  it  forth  by  a  heavenward 
thought.  This  message,  secret  unto  us,  com- 
ing on  the  wings  of  Love,  awakens  our  hope ; 
and  a  rhapsody  is  born  out  of  our  joy  to  rise 
to  God  in  song  divine.  I  will  trust  the  Lord, 
O  my  soul ! 

Melodious  harmony,  as  the  echo  of  harps 
angelic,  pervades  my  being ;  it  is  the  peace 
which  passeth  understanding ;  it  is  hope. 


ii8  THE  BEST  WAY 

Would  you  jeopardize  that  joy  by  dis- 
obedience ■? 

What  is  this  joy  ? 

It  is  the  child  of  hope. 

And  what  is  this  hope  *? 

It  is  the  reward  of  the  cultivation  of  the 
soul. 

Beautiful  hope !  thou  dost  dwell  in  the 
green  dale  of  peace.  The  hills  of  faith  sur- 
round thee,  and  the  river  of  love  waters  thy 
glades.  Wilt  thou  not  dwell  also  in  my 
heart*?  —  make  it  beautiful  as  a  valley  in 
May,  and  plant  in  its  garden  sweet  flowers 
of  faith,  and  have  a  spring  of  living  water 
bubbling  up  within  me,  a  fountain  of  joy  ? 

How  can  we  get  this  hope  *? 

The  path  that  leads  to  hope  is  the  same 
that  leads  to  God  through  Christ,  to  salva- 
tion, to  divine  forgiveness,  to  being  born 
again,  to  knowing  God  for  yourself,  to  read- 
ing your  title  clear  to  a  mansion  in  the  sky. 

Take  the  road  to  either,  and  it  will  also 
lead  you  to  hope. 

When  you  are  climbing  the  hills  of  hope, 
plant  your  feet  carefully  upon  the  slope,  the 
rising  ground,  that  nothing  may  deter  you 
from  reaching  the  ecstasy  of  the  heights  of 


THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE  119 

hope.     Take  with   you  the  alpenstock  of 
determination. 

Let  this  hour  be  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
to  your  Soul,  which,  when  sighted,  gives 
you  an  assurance  of  a  harbor,  the  haven  of 
Heaven. 

Do  we  earnestly  desire  to  win  in  the  matter 
of  hope  versus  no-hope  *? 

Our  case  is  in  safe  hands. 

God  is  the  judge,  Christ  is  the  advocate : 
the  best  attorney  is  on  our  side.  The  angels 
are  our  witnesses.  You  see  we  have  a  just 
judge,  the  best  attorney,  unimpeachable  wit- 
nesses, all  on  our  side,  and  if  we  wish  to  be 
good,  nothing  can  win  against  us. 

If  we  are  vacillating  and  weak,  and  sur- 
render our  case  to  our  adversary,  Satan,  with- 
out trial,  we  deserve  to  be  hopeless. 

But  even  though  we  be  weak,  yet,  having 
a  right  purpose  to  be  good,  if  we  bring  our- 
selves before  the  judgment  seat,  confess  our 
sins,  and  plead  mercy,  our  case  is  won,  for 
we  have  a  judge  that  cannot  be  bought,  who 
loveth  mercy  and  knoweth  justice  to  do  it. 

"  Hope  on,  hope  ever." 

But  what  say  the  Scriptures  about  hope*? 

The  word  hope  is  not  used  by  Christ,  nor 


120  THE  BEST  WAY 

in  the  four  Gospels,  in  our  present  sense; 
but  after  the  resurrection  the  word  hope  be- 
came a  permanent  word  in  the  Christian's 
vocabulary.  Hope  and  resurrection  of  the 
dead !  Ah,  Christ's  death  gave  hope  to  men ! 
Thenceforth  the  word  hope  was  on  the 
tongues  of  all  men  who  know  Him. 

The  Bible  says  we  should  rest,  rejoice,  and 
abound  in  hope :  that  we  should  hope  in  God, 
in  Christ,  in  "His  Word,"  and  hope  in  His 
mercy:  that  we  should  not  be  ashamed  of 
our  hope,  and  be  ready  to  give  a  reason  for 
the  hope  that  is  within  us,  with  meekness  and 
fear,  as  the  Scriptures  teach. 

It  is  also  written  that  "  the  hope  of  the 
righteous  shall  be  gladness,  but  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  wicked  shall  perish."  The  hypo- 
crite's hope  also  shall  perish,  and  Job  likens 
it  to  a  spider's  web,  as  futile  as  a  gossamer 
and  of  no  strength. 

We  are  taught  therein  that  when  we  have 
hope  we  are  secure  and  safe,  happy  and 
blessed. 

"  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick." 
Many  times  have  I,  discouraged,  proven  this 
proverb;  but  then  the  moment  I  went  to 
God  with  my  discouragement.  He  would  say 


.THE  ECSTASY  OF  HOPE  121 

to  me,  "  Have  you  no  hope  to  cheer  you  *? 
No  Heaven  to  look  ahead  to,  if  faithful  *?  " 
"  Yes,  Lord,  yes,  Lord,"  I  would  say,  "  my 
heart  is  now  better,  its  sickness  has  passed 
away." 

It  is  written,  "  against  hope  believed  in 
hope,"  and  again,  "  hope  continually." 

"  And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in 
him  purifieth  himself  even  as  he  is  pure." 

Faith  hath  its  peace,  love  its  warmth,  but 
hope  has  its  ecstasy.  Love  "hopeth  all 
things." 

Hope  is  a  door,  ever  open,  a  place  to 
enter  for  something  good. 

Disobedience  kills  hope. 

If  you  have  no  hope  you  are  in  prison, 
jailed  by  Satan,  and  your  sentence  will  last 
for  eternity  unless  Christ  pardons  you  out, 
as  He  will,  if  you  desire  it. 

Here  are  two  scriptures  worth  remember- 
ing:— 

"  Chasten  thy  son  while  there  is  hope,  and 
let  not  thy  soul  spare  for  his  crying."  Prov. 
xix.  18. 

"  For  to  him  that  is  joined  to  all  the  living 
there  is  hope  ;  for  a  living  dog  is  better  than 
a  dead  lion." 


122  THE  BEST  WAY 

So  that  you,  being  alive,  have  a  chance. 

But  to  return  to  our  hope  in  Heaven. 
God  gives  us  hope  through  the  Holy  Ghost : 
therefore  we  have  to  get  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
order  to  get  hope.  God  is  the  Father  of  hope 
and  as  Holy  Ghost  He  giveth  it  us. 

The  Lord  Jesus  is  our  hope :  aye,  a  lively 
hope  by  His  resurrection  from  the  dead.  If 
you  are  without  God  in  the  world,  you  have 
no  hope. 

"  We  glory  in  tribulations  also :  knowing 
that  tribulation  worketh  patience;  and  pa- 
tience, experience  ;  and  experience,  hope ; 
and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed ;  because  the 
love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  unto  us." 

Yes,  patience  in  doing  the  words  of  Christ 
is  essential  to  getting  the  Christ-hope  in  the 
heart. 

"  For  we  are  saved  by  hope,"  it  is  written. 
I  think  this  means  that  our  faith  by  which 
we  are  saved  is  kept  alive  by  hope,  and  so 
hope  saves  us. 

Let  us  keep  this  hope,  then,  unsullied  to 
the  end,  and  have  a  full  assurance  of  it. 

Let  us  take  refuge  in  this  hope ;  it  is  an 
anchor  of  the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast. 


THE  ECSTASY  OF   HOPE  123 

A  friend  of  mine  says  he  would  not  want  to 
live  without  this  hope  of  Heaven,  for  it  would 
be  like  the  cattle  to  be  without  any  hope  of 
everlasting  life,  where  we  can  be  happy  for- 
evermore. 

When  everything  else  fails,  the  hope  of 
faith  fails  not.  Job  is  the  best  example 
of  that,  save  Christ  Himself;  but  among  the 
living  there  are  excellent  examples  of  it. 
Depend  alone  on  God  for  your  hope  and  con- 
solation; then  you  will  never  lose  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding.  When  disagree- 
able things  come,  you  will  then  say,  "  That  is 
all  right,  that  does  not  interfere  with  my  hope 
or  my  divine  consolation." 

Hope  is  like  expectancy :  if  you  make  a 
journey  or  take  a  walk,  never  enjoyed  before, 
you  are  ever  alert  to  see  something  new ;  so 
in  your  pilgrimage  to  the  City  of  the  Sky 
we  may  ever  expect  some  new  vista  of  God's 
goodness  and  remembrance  of  us,  some  fresh 
visitations  of  His  grace,  and  new  exhibitions 
of  His  power,  since  each  day  our  way  to 
Heaven  is  diversified  by  varied  blessings  and 
temptations. 

There  is  something  especially  excellent 
in   possessing   this   hope   in  God,   for   the 


124  THE   BEST  WAY 

experience  of  having  it  becomes  more  and 
more  blessed  until  the  perfect  day  when  you 
are  ushered  into  the  realms  of  bliss,  —  when 
you  fall  asleep  in  Jesus  and  awake  in  Heaven. 
If  you  get  into  politics  it  often  happens  that 
you  become  very  tired  of  them  as  you  grow 
older;  perhaps  some  one  gets  more  popular 
than  you,  and  it  leaves  you  a  disappointed 
politician :  if  you  secure  great  book  learning 
you  are  sometimes  surfeited  with  the  weari- 
ness of  it :  but  it  is  not  so  with  serving  God, 
and  abiding  in  hope,  and  getting  religion. 

What  is  getting  religion  like  *? 

It  is  like  the  sun  bursting  through  a  cloud 
on  a  cold  day,  warming  you  with  its  warmth. 
Your  sins  are  the  clouds,  the  Saviour  is  the 
sun.  Call  on  Him  for  forgiveness ;  He  will 
dispel  the  clouds  and  warm  you  with  His 
divine  presence.     Oh,  let  Him  in  I 

Some  have  hope  of  a  temporal  nature  call- 
ing them  on:  for  instance,  success  in  busi- 
ness, in  society,  in  your  profession,  in  your 
temporal  work,  but  such  hope  of  success  will 
not  avail  in  time  of  failure,  distress,  sickness, 
or  death.  That  hope  won't  carry  you  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  but  hope  in  Christ 
will ;  such  a  hope  dies  not  when  distresses 


THE  ECSTASY  OF   HOPE  125 

come.  Tribulations  cannot  snufF  out  the 
brightness  of  the  candle  of  the  Lord,  —  our 
soul's  hope;  only  disobedience  can  do  that. 

Hope  thou  in  Christ :  hope  not  in  the 
world  or  in  the  power  thereof  That  is  to 
say,  have  not  your  highest,  brightest,  and 
best  hope  dependent  on  what  the  world  can 
give,  but  on  what  God  through  Christ  can 
give. 

If  a  famine  comes  to  a  man  without  God, 
where  is  his  hope  ?  But  if  he  has  hope  in 
God,  then  even  though  the  dry  year  come  he 
has  hope,  and  can  be  happy  and  at  peace. 

•*  The  Heavenly  hope  is  all  serene. 

But  earthly  hope,  how  bright  so  e'er. 
Still  fluctuates  o'er  this  changing  scene 
As  false  and  fleeting  as  'tis  fair." 

Heber. 

If  you  are  going  to  get  all  your  hope  from 
this  world  instead  of  from  Heaven,  I  will 
tell  you  what  it  will  be  like,  —  you  will  be 
paid  in  counterfeit  money.  There  is  only 
one  real  hope,  and  that  is  "hope  thou  in 
Christ,"  the  Christ-hope. 

That  hope  can  extend  to  and  include 
things  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual.  That 
hope  opens  the  door  to  success,   spiritual, 


126  THE  BEST  WAY 

physical,  mental,  and  temporal.  I  used  to 
think  God  could  do  wonderful  things  for  me 
in  a  spiritual  way,  but  it  took  me  many  years 
to  realize  He  could  run  a  woolen  mill  better 
than  I,  and  to  trust  Him  to  manage  temporal 
matters  for  me. 

"  The  bells  of  hope  ring  in  my  soul, 
Their  chime  is  sweet," 

the  hymnal  sings.  The  church  bells  ring; 
do  they  bring  hopes  to  your  heart  ?  "  The 
mighty  hopes  that  make  us  men"  as 
Tennyson  says  ? 

If  you  have  no  hope  in  God,  you  are  at 
war  with  God.  I  bring  you  an  offer  of 
peace.  The  terms  are  piety.  The  way  out 
is  Christ.  A  declaration  of  peace  to  your 
soul  will  immediately  follow  your  obedience 
to  His  words  and  acceptance  of  the  terms. 
In  addition  to  peace,  God  offers  you  hope 
and  Heaven,  and  an  escape  from  Hell. 

If  you  do  not  accept  God's  offer  of  peace, 
my  instructions  are  to  declare  that  war  will 
be  continued  until  you  repent  or  die  (in  love 
I  speak),  and  death  without  God  means  Hell 
with  Satan.  I  speak  in  plain  terms,  yet  in 
love.     Oh,  seek  the  Lord  while  He  may  be 


THE  ECSTASY  OF   HOPE  127 

found.  His  spirit  will  not  always  strive 
with  you.  Wont  you  accept  His  terms,  end 
the  war,  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  peace  with 
God? 

There  can  be  but  one  outcome  if  you  per- 
sist against  Jesus.  God,  who  holds  steady 
the  solar  system,  is  able  to  enforce  His  laws 
to  the  utmost.  To-day,  He  comes  like  a 
loving  father  and  says,  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye, 
for  why  will  ye  die  *?  " 

What  is  the  trouble?  Why  do  ye  not 
all  know  God  ?  Ah !  methinks  the  trouble 
is  there  be  some  who  forget  to  live  the  very 
first  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  have  no 
other  Gods  before  me,"  which,  as  Christ  ex- 
plains it,  means  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy 
strength." 

Ah !  the  trouble  is  that  there  be  some  of 
us  who  love  God  with  half  the  heart,  with  a 
fraction  of  the  mind,  with  a  part  of  the  soul, 
and  with  too  little  of  our  strength,  which  last 
appears  to  me  to  refer  to  that  strength  which 
comes  from  practised  purity. 

And  so  our  spiritual  life  is  half-hearted, 
blunted,  blurred,  weakened. 


128  THE  BEST  WAY 

Oh,  let  us  turn  to-day  and  take  refuge  in 
obedience  to  the  First  Commandment,  for 
therein  is  our  only  hope. 

When  your  hope  is  full,  you  will  know 
the  meaning  of  the  word  Ecstasy. 


BY   THEIR  FRUITS   YE   SHALL 
KNOW  THEM 


BY   THEIR  FRUITS   YE   SHALL 
KNOW    THEM 

California  orchards  are  very  complete. 
In  the  East  you  hear  a  farmer  speak  of  his 
apple  orchard  or  his  pear  orchard ;  but  on  a 
California  ranch  you  can  very  often  find  in 
the  home  orchard  almost  any  kind  of  fruit, 
fig,  nectarine,  olive,  loquat,  almond,  or  wal- 
nut. 

To  be  sure,  this  cannot  compare  with 
Heaven's  fruit-tree,  which  bears  twelve  kinds 
of  fruit  each  month  in  the  year,  but  still  a 
California  home  orchard  is  a  beautiful  pos- 
session. 

Now,  men  are  like  trees ;  some  men  bear 
good  fruit,  some  bitter,  like  the  sour-apple- 
tree.  Some  are  so  good  that,  like  the  tree  of 
Heaven,  they  bear  nearly  every  kind  of  good 
fruit  and  are  always  in  bearing,  every  month 
in  the  year.  Some  men  are  so  evil  that  their 
fruits  are  always  evil,  and  their  influence 
never  fails  to  be  bad. 


132  THE  BEST  WAY 

It  is  by  men's  fruits  that  we  are  to  know 
them,  so  that  thus  we  can  tell  whether  we 
can  trust  them,  whether  they  are  proper  asso- 
ciates, whether  their  influence  over  us  will 
be  uplifting  or  degenerating.  And  we  need 
the  help  of  God's  Spirit  in  discerning,  be- 
cause it  is  written  that  even  Christians, 
indeed,  can  be  deceived,  but  this  is  the  ex- 
ception which  proves  the  rule.  To  summer 
and  winter  a  man  is  the  old  rule  to  find  what 
he  really  is. 

Fruitage  is  the  only  test  of  discipleship,  it 
is  often  said,  and  it  is  the  best  test  by  which 
we  can  measure  our  own  standing  with 
Christ.  Our  influence  at  home  and  in  the 
community,  —  is  it  good  *? 

An  apricot-tree  in  the  home  orchard  is 
known  by  the  apricot,  and  the  peach  by  the 
peach.  So  among  men,  the  reliable  man  is 
known  by  what  his  neighbors  say  of  him, — 
the  majority  oi  his  neighbors;  and  the  evil 
man  is  known  by  his  acts,  which  make  his 
reputation  for  evil. 

While  the  test  of  discipleship  of  Christ  is 
fruits,  we  should  beware  lest  we  conclude 
that  great  things,  as  the  world  goes,  must 
follow  discipleship.     The  widow's  mite  dis- 


BY  THEIR   FRUITS  133 

proves  such  conclusion.  In  an  old  burying 
ground  in  New  Hampshire,  on  an  ancient 
tombstone,  are  these  words :  "  She  done  what 
she  could."     Could  any  one  do  more  ? 

All  must  bear  fruit,  and  we  of  little  talent 
are  very  apt  to  like  to  talk,  about  the  rich 
young  man  who  lacked  the  one  thing  need- 
ful, and  forget  to  meditate  on  the  man  with 
one  talent,  who  hid  it  in  the  earth,  so  it  bore 
no  fruit. 

Awake,  ye  of  one  talent,  ye  are  the  major- 
ity !  Ye  have  power  to  transform  the  earth 
unto  righteousness  I  Do  ye  lack  a  leader  *? 
Is  not  Christ  sufficient  ? 

One-talent  people  correspond  to  the  com- 
mon people:  and  remember  it  is  written, 
"  The  common  people  heard  Him  [Christ] 
gladly."  Yes,  we  of  one  talent  have  a 
responsibility  as  great  as  the  ten-talent  men. 

God  loves  you,  ye  of  little  faith ! 

Abraham  Lincoln  said,  "God  must  love 
the  common  people.  He  made  so  many  of 
them." 

"What  can  we  do?"  Do  ye  thus  in- 
quire, ye  one-talent  people  *?  Do  ye  not 
know  the  power  of  an  example,  the  influence 
of  a  soul  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ?     Do  ye 


134  THE  BEST  WAY 

not  understand  how  ye,  having  nothing,  yet 
have  all ;  how  ye  can  especially  obtain  glory 
for  Christ? 

And  ye,  O  preachers,  have  ye  not  neglected 
those  of  one  talent  and  preached  the  rich 
young  man,  when  there  were  a  majority  of 
one-talent  saints  and  sinners  before  you  *?  — 
even  if  you  did  wish  to  bring  out  the  point 
of  the  one  thing  lacking. 

A  minister  was  called  to  a  new  charge, 
and  on  his  arrival  in  town,  one  of  the  Church 
Board  met  him  and  said,  "Now,  Mr.  New- 
comb,  I  wish  to  give  you  a  little  advice 
about  preaching  here.  You  will  be  wise  if 
you  avoid  preaching  about  a  bad  temper, 
because  Mr.  A.,  one  of  our  largest  contribu- 
tors, has  a  terrible  temper,  and  you  will 
offend  him.  Do  not  speak  about  money, 
because  one  of  our  board  is  very  rich  and  he 
does  not  like  to  have  such  matters  spoken 
of  And,  I  beg  you,  never  refer  to  temper- 
ance, for  Mr.  B.,  although  not  a  member, 
gives  a  good  deal  towards  the  church,  and  he 
is  not  as  temperate  as  he  should  be.  And 
then"  — 

Here  Mr.  Newcomb  interrupted  and  said, 
"Well,  what  shall  I  preach  about,  then?" 


BY  THEIR  FRUITS  135 

The  other  thought  a  moment  and  replied, 
"  Preach  about  the  Jews,  —  there  is  n't  one 
within  twenty  miles." 

This  story  is  told  to  anchor  in  our  minds 
the  thought  that  we  should  always  preach 
that  which  needs  to  be  preached. 

Let  us  consider  how  this  text  applies  to 
the  various  Christian  denominations.  There 
are  many  of  these,  and  some  are  not  so  kind- 
hearted  to  others  as  they  should  be. 

We  should  remember  that  we  all  have 
peculiarities  of  mind,  condition,  and  tempera- 
ment, made  so  largely  by  heredity  and  envi- 
ronment; and  we  cannot  all  expect  to  look 
at  things  at  the  same  angle;  but  if  our  general 
purposes  are  good,  and  we  do  not  heinously 
disobey,  we  are  worth  consideration,  and  so 
are  all  such. 

A  Quaker  and  his  wife  were  conversing 
about  how  peculiar  people  were,  and  after 
each  had  mentioned  the  peculiarities  of  vari- 
ous ones,  the  Quaker  at  last  said,  "  And  now 
I  think  of  it,  wife,  thee  is  a  little  peculiar, 
too." 

A  Congregationalist  friend  of  mine  said 
that  when  a  young  lad  he  really  got  it  into 
his  head  that  no  one  but  a  Congregationalist 


136  THE  BEST  WAY 

could  go  to  Heaven ;  and  he  told  how  sur- 
prised he  was  when  he  grew  up  and  went  to 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  meetings  to  find  that  others 
of  different  denominations  knew  and  experi- 
enced just  what  he  did. 

A  Christian  is  one  who  resembles  Christ,  no 
matter  what  other  name  men  may  call  him. 

But  we  should  be  careful  not  to  be  bitter 
against  the  denominational  idea.  Kindly 
read  1  Corinthians  xii.,  xiii.,  and  think. 
There  it  is  written,  "And  there  are  differ- 
ences of  administrations,  but  the  same  Lord." 
This  is  not  necessarily  an  approbation  of 
various  denominations,  but  a  justification 
of  them.  Thus  the  Bible  itself  furnishes 
the  best  comparative  illustration  or  simile 
of  the  denominational  idea. 

It  is  also  written  in  Acts  x.  35:  "But 
in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him  and 
worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  with  Him." 
Lest  Satan  should  tempt  any  one  to  think, 
"  What,  then,  is  the  use  of  missions  *?  why 
should  we  send  men  to  foreign  shores  and 
to  our  own  people  ? "  I  reply,  "  Because 
Jesus  commanded  it ;  "  that  is  enough. 

Moreover,  would  such  a  scripture  as  this 
Acts  X.  35  make  us  less  loyal  to  our  own 


BY  THEIR  FRUITS  137 

interpretation  of  Scripture  ■?  Nay,  it  should 
not.  We  should  not  hesitate  to  speak  the 
truth  in  love  (at  such  times  as  good  can  be 
done  thereby),  or  to  point  out  mistakes  and 
errors  in  interpretation  of  scriptures,  or  mis- 
taken allegations  of  creeds.  Where  should 
we  be,  if  Martin  Luther,  Knox,  and  Wesley 
had  been  silent,  and  others  in  our  day*? 

All  denominations  have  their  differences, 
each  from  each,  yet  if  their  fruits  are  decid- 
edly Christian,  we  should  not  criticise  them 
too  sharply.  We  should  be  merciful  and 
charitable,  and  ready  to  give  all  the  benefits 
of  doubt  to  others;  yet  we  should  not  be  so 
lax  as  to  lose  the  blessings  of  all  the  blessed 
doctrines  from  Genesis  to  Revelation. 

In  some  denominational  experiences  of 
life  we  should  remember  the  scripture  where 
John  forbade  the  man  who  was  casting  out 
devils  in  Jesus'  name  because  he  would  not 
follow  their  number,  and  what  Christ  replied 
to  John  in  Mark  ix.  39-41. 

Again,  sometimes  we  should  recall  Gama- 
liel's advice,  as  recorded  in  Acts  v.  35-39. 

Again,  remember  that  Christ  said,  "  Other 
sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold." 
Selah, 


138  THE  BEST  WAY 

But  if  the  fruits  we  bear  are  not  so  good 
as  they  should  be,  shall  we  not  begin  to-day 
to  graft  into  us  better  fruits  and  to  bud  into 
us  more  excellent  ways? 

Let  us  see  if  we  cannot  with  God's  help. 
We  can. 

Perhaps  we  can  give  some  spiritual  sug- 
gestions for  so  doing. 

When  you  were  converted  and  arose  and 
went  to  your  Father,  did  you  confess  your 
sins  after  repentance  ?  When  you  asked  God 
to  forgive  you,  did  you  have  true  humility, 
like  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  say,  somewhat  as 
he  did,  "  Make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  ser- 
vants"?    All  these  things  are  necessary. 

"  Make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants  " 
gives  me  great  comfort  to  repeat  often;  it 
helps  to  keep  me  humble  and  contented 
with  my  tribulations. 

Sometimes  we  try  to  approach  God  in  this 
way :  "  Oh  yes,  I  will  be  a  Christian  if  you  '11 
find  me  a  nice  genteel  place  to  work  in  a  bank, 
with  a  real  good  salary,"  or,  "  Oh  yes,  I  '11  be 
a  Christian  if  you  '11  make  me  well,  or  do  this 
or  that."     God  cannot  be  met  in  that  way. 

But  the  prodigal  had  the  right  spirit,  and 
the  father  went  out  to  meet  him.     "  Before 


BY  THEIR   FRUITS  139 

you  call  I  will  answer,"  says  God,  so  anxious 
is  He  to  meet  you  halfway. 

Just  think  I  you  have  sinned  against  God 
and  Heaven :  but  God  calls  you  back  through 
the  forgiveness  Christ  offers,  —  unforgiven, 
you  are  lost.  You  have  no  hope  against 
Hell,  but  the  Father  offers  mercy.  To  get 
a  chance  to  be  forgiven,  when  you  realize 
your  sin,  are  you  not  willing  to  use  a  grub- 
bing hoe  or  a  washtub,  if  need  be  *?  You 
cannot  be  in  a  ride-in-a-coupe  frame  of  mind 
when  at  the  mercy-seat. 

And  the  prodigal  "  arose  "  and  made  up 
his  mind  to  quit  his  meanness  and  go  to  his 
father  and  accept  any  conditions,  if  only  he 
could  be  forgiven  and  accepted.  Won't  you 
do  the  same  towards  God '? 

But  God  will  satisfy  you  with  adoption, 
not  servitude,  after  you  have  exhibited  the 
right  spirit.  As  the  father  in  the  parable 
killed  the  fatted  calf  and  put  the  robe  of 
equality  on  the  repentant  son,  so  God  has 
given  you  His  only  begotten  crucified  Son, 
and  He  will  bring  you  into  the  equality  and 
companionship  of  the  sons  of  God  through 
the  Elder  Brother,  if  you  adorn  the  doctrine 
of  the  Master. 


140  THE  BEST  WAY 

"  Make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants." 
"  They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait," 
doing  what  little  they  can.  Invalid !  let  this 
encourage  you.  And  yet  some  invalids, 
through  the  distribution  of  tracts  or  the  ex- 
ample of  Christlikeness,  can  do  wonders  for 
God,  and  for  their  own  Eternity. 

A  certain  man  had  been  ill,  oh !  so  many 
weary  years.  Over  twenty  summers  had 
cast  their  shadows  over  his  disappointed 
hopes  of  recovery.  "  Oh,  to  be  freed  from 
pain ! "  he  said,  but  still  the  pain  remained. 
He  resisted  his  cross  in  his  mind;  he  did 
not  make  "a  joy  out  of  an  accepted  sorrow," 
but  one  day  he  awoke  to  the  righteousness 
of  the  resolve  that  he  would  not  wait  to  be 
happy  until  he  was  cured,  but  that  he  would 
be  happy  right  now.     God  speed  him. 

There  was  a  certain  man  who  was  un- 
happy in  his  constant  loneliness ;  he  had  not 
a  sufficiency  of  the  companionship  of  God 
and  Christ ;  he  resisted  his  condition  in  his 
mind. 

Another  man  was  unhappy  in  his  lowly 
condition,  which  remained  the  same  as  the 
years  rolled  by. 

"Alas,"   he    said,    "the    years   bring   no 


BY  THEIR   FRUITS  141 

changes.  Shall  I  never  have  power,  but 
always  be  as  I  am,  a  menial'? "  and  he  re- 
sisted in  his  mind.  But  both  of  these  men 
one  day  awoke  to  the  folly  of  waiting  to  be 
happy  until  their  hopes  were  realized,  so 
they  determined  they  would  be  happy  now 
and  under  the  present  conditions.  God 
speed  them  both. 

A  certain  man  was  sitting  under  the  shadow 
of  a  great  sorrow.  It  was  the  crucible  in 
which  he  was  to  be  tested.  He  did  not  ac- 
cept it  as  God's  way  of  the  Cross  to  humble 
him  and  to  cause  him  to  cultivate  the  soul. 
"  Via  Crucis,  via  lucis."  He  also  resisted  in 
his  mind.  But  he  heard  these  other  three 
testify  of  the  joy  they  found  in  accepting 
their  sorrows  and  in  not  waiting  to  be  happy 
until  their  sorrows  were  taken  away.  He, 
too,  thus  learned  to  say,  "  Thy  will,  not  mine, 
be  done,"  and  found  his  sorrow  a  thing  of  the 
past.  He  meant  what  he  said.  Thy  will 
be  done.     God  speed  him. 

Sometimes  when  we  are  very  weary  with 
the  burden  of  ill  health  or  poverty,  lone- 
liness or  distress,  domestic  and  financial,  or 
alas !  all  combined,  Satan  takes  advantage  of 
our  weakness  and  whispers  to  us  not  to  stand  it 


142  THE  BEST  WAY 

any  longer,  but  to  resist  it ;  and  he  alleges 
all  sorts  of  reasons,  except  the  right  ones,  for 
our  being  in  the  fix  we  are  in.  Ever  ready- 
to  insinuate  that  blame  should  rest  where  it 
does  not  belong,  he  advises  us  to  kick. 

Now  comes  Jesus  and  He  says,  "  It  is  hard 
for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks."  It  don't 
do  any  good  to  kick  against  the  unpleasant 
and  galling  conditions  of  life.  The  more  we 
kick  or  complain,  the  worse  it  will  be  for  us ; 
if  they  are  incurable,  they  are  chastisements 
which  must  be  borne  with  grace. 

If  you  go  to  a  thorn-bush,  and,  barefoot, 
keep  kicking  it,  the  more  you  kick  the  more 
the  blood  will  flow.  Stand  off  and  stop  kick- 
ing, and  the  suffering  abates. 

When  next  you  are  tempted  to  complain, 
remember  the  thorn-bush  and  the  bare  foot ; 
it  will  help  you  to  accept  the  condition  which 
smarts  you. 

Satan  says, "  Kick,  kick ! "  God  says,  "  Do 
not  kick  against  the  pricks." 

O  God,  we  will  accept  Thy  chastisements, 
we  will  accept  in  the  right  spirit  the  un- 
pleasant conditions  of  our  life,  knowing  that 
in  saying  amen  to  them,  so  be  it,  is  the  royal 
road  to  the  celestial  city.     And  we  will  rise 


BY  THEIR   FRUITS  143 

to  greater  heights  and  say,  "  I  thank  Thee, 
Lord." 

It  is  hard  for  you  to  do  this,  you  say.  It 
is.  But  ask  God  to  help  you,  and  you  can 
do  it.     That  is  what  religion  is  for. 

I  have  found  my  Lord;  so  I  am  reconciled 
to  the  sadness  and  sorrows  of  the  past;  and, 
with  God's  help,  I  will  be  with  those  which 
are  to  come. 

What  fruit  are  you  bearing,  brother*? 
Fruits  of  the  Spirit  of  God?  Are  you 
"  pure,  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated, 
full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  par- 
tiality and  without  hypocrisy  %  " 

If  we  bear  no  fruit,  we  are  dead  to  God, 
and  unless  we  change  we  shall  be  lost :  nay, 
we  are  lost  now.  Do  you  recall  the  parable 
of  the  fig-tree  *?  You  know  the  owner  of  the 
place,  when  he  saw  the  tree  bore  no  fruit, 
told  his  foreman  to  have  it  cut  down ;  why 
cumbereth  it  the  ground "?  said  he.  But  the 
foreman  said,  "  Let  me  try  it,  sir,  won't  you, 
for  another  year ;  let  me  dig  around  it,  and 
then  if  it  don't  bear  fruit  it  shall  be  cut 
down,"  He  was  like  the  Germans,  whose 
proverb  says,  "  Sleep  three  nights  before  you 
cut  down  a  tree." 


144  THE  BEST  WAY 

The  foreman  pleaded  for  that  tree's  life, 
lest  it  be  lost;  and  so  Christ  pleads  with  God 
for  you,  O  thou  who  art  out  of  the  Kingdom, 
lest  you  be  lost  in  Hell.  One  year  more ! 
One  year  more  I  And  then  perhaps,  if  thou 
bearest  no  fruit,  thou  shalt  be  cut  down ! 
And  lost  in  Hell,  to  suffer  forever ! 

Once  in  New  York  city  I  showed  a  friend 
some  inscriptions  I  had  written  for  a  public 
building.  At  the  end  of  one  of  them  were 
these  words,  — 

"  Men,  women,  children,  obey  these 
words. 

"  If  you  do,  you  will  be  happy. 

"  If  you  do  not,  sorrow  will  come  upon 
you." 

My  friend  read  this  and  he  said,  "  I  like  it 
all  but  the  last  line;  I  should  leave  that 
out." 

"  No,"  said  I,  "  it  is  true  and  the  truth  shall 
stand." 

People  don't  like  the  thought  of  divine 
punishment.  Yet  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the 
beginning  of  wisdom. 

Hell  is.  We  have  as  much  right  to  go 
to  the  Bible  and  cut  out  that  word  as  we  have 
to  go  to  the  dictionary  and  cut  out  the  word 


BY  THEIR  FRUITS  145 

"  fire."     Our  cutting  it  out  does  not  stop  the 
existence  of  fire. 

In  conclusion,  what  is  your  influence  ?  Is 
it  for  good?  Is  your  fruit  satisfactory  to 
you  against  the  last  day*?  If  not,  had  we 
not  better  make  it  better  ?  If  we  are  not 
bearing  good  fruit,  had  we  not  better  graft  on 
a  better  kind?  Or  bud  into  our  way  the 
best  way,  —  Christ's  way  ? 

If  we  know  a  better  variety  of  fruit  than 
what  we  bear,  should  we  not  secure  it,  until 
"  naught  in  our  heart  condemns  us  ?  " 

We  should  surely  "  bring  forth  fruits  meet 
for  repentance ; "  that  is,  if  we  have  repented 
of  our  sins,  we  should  live  accordingly. 

So  let  us  do,  and  may  the  consequent 
peace  of  God  abide  with  us  all  our  days. 
Amen. 


WHO  WAS  CHRIST? 


WHO  WAS  CHRIST? 

Christ  was  the  first  great  Christian  teacher 
that  the  great  God  sent  to  earth.  I  am  go- 
ing to  explain  to  you  who  belong  to  the  real 
Christian  Church.  It  is  not  the  Protestants, 
nor  the  Catholics,  nor  the  Baptists,  nor  the 
Episcopalians,  nor  the  Methodist  Church ;  but 
the  real  Christian  Church  is  made  up  of  all 
those  fi-om  each  of  these  I  have  mentioned, 
or  any  other,  or  none,  who  believe  in  God  and 
Christ,  and  who  are  trying  to  be  Christians 
who  mean  business.     That  is  the  church, 

I  said  Christ  was  the  first  great  Christian 
teacher.  He  taught  others  how  to  teach; 
John  and  Matthew,  and  Luke  the  great  phy- 
sician teacher.  Then  came  Paul.  They 
taught  others,  and  others  taught  odiers,  till 
we  come  to  Luther,  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and 
Wesley,  to  Eliot  and  Edwards,  Moody  and 
Munhall,  and  your  good  teacher  and  mine. 

What  is  their  message  ?  Repent  and  be 
saved.     The  same  as  Christ's.     Turn  from 


150  THE   BEST  WAY 

sin  and  do  right  in  the  fear  and  love  of 
God. 

Now  a  word  of  warning.  You  may  meet 
in  your  life  some  that  will  say,  "  Oh  yes,  Con- 
fucius, the  great  Chinese  teacher,  taught  men 
to  forgive,  and  Buddha  and  other  teachers 
taught  men  to  be  good."  Yes,  that  is  true, 
but  no  man  save  Christ  ever  rose  to  such 
grandeur  of  love  as  the  instruction  which 
bids  men  not  only  to  forgive  their  enemies 
but  to  pray  for  those  who  are  mean  to  them, 
as  well  as  to  do  them  good.  That  is  divine. 
It  is  superhuman.  Remember  Job,  who  re- 
ceived not  the  blessing  until  he  prayed  for 
his  enemies. 

Christ  was  divine.  He  will  conquer  the 
world.  He  needs  you  to  help  Him.  You 
can  help  Him  by  letting  your  light  shine. 

Who  is  this  Christ,  the  Son  of  God? 
What  manner  of  man  is  He?  Ah,  man 
never  spake  like  this  man.  Man  never  did 
as  He  did. 

When  He  was  arrested  before  His  cruci- 
fixion, one  of  His  friends  standing  by  drew 
his  sword  and  cut  off  the  right  ear  of  a  ser- 
vant of  the  high  priest.  What  did  Jesus 
say  ?   Did  He  call  out,  "  Come  on,  Andrew, 


WHO   WAS   CHRIST?  151 

come  on  Peter  and  John,  clear  them  out. 
We'll  settle  this'"?  Oh  no!  You  and  I 
might  have  said  that. 

But  Christ  said  to  His  friend,  "  Put  up  thy 
sword."  Christ  was  without  revenge  or  re- 
sentment. 

Again,  when  the  time  of  His  death  was 
near,  and  •  thinking  of  the  agonies  He  must 
suffer,  He  prayed  to  God,  "  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  !  Never- 
theless, not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt." 
"Mould  me,  O  God,  according  to  Thy  pur- 
poses, not  mine,"  is  the  highest  of  wisdom's 
heights. 

We  might  have  said,  "O  God,  must  I 
suffer  all  this  agony,  this  ignominious  cruci- 
fixion, after  I  have  tried  so  hard  to  please 
Thee  ? "  We  might  have  said  that,  but 
Christ  knew  God  knew  best,  and  He  said, 
"  Thy  will  be  done." 

Again,  when  Jesus  was  crucified,  while  He 
was  in  agony  of  pain,  while  the  cruel  spikes 
were  torturing  His  feet  and  hands,  what  did 
He  say  ?  Did  He  say,  "  Well,  I  give  it  up," 
and  fall  into  a  stupor  of  despair^  Or  did 
He  cry  —  as  you  and  I  might  cry  if  we  were 
to  be  hanged  on  the  scaffold,  innocent  of  the 


152  THE  BEST  WAY 

crime  of  which  we  had  been  charged  —  "I 
am  innocent.  I  declare  unto  the  world  my 
innocence "  ?  We  might  have  said  so,  but 
the  Christ,  even  at  this  moment,  forgot  Him- 
self and  prayed  for  others :  "  Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

Oh,  to-day  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done,"  and 
"  Mould  me  according  to  Thy  purposes,  not 
mine ; "  and  although  you  may  not  have  re- 
ceived any  Christmas  present  tied  up  in  a 
handsome  box,  yet  in  bending  your  will  to 
God's  will,  you  will  receive  one  so  great  that 
you  will  not  need  the  little  box.  Though 
men  may  forget  you,  God  will  not;  and 
to-day  He  gives  you  that  great  Christmas 
present,  Christ  in  the  heart.  Let  the  Christ- 
mas bells  peal  in  your  soul,  and  go  forth  to 
sing  His  praises.     Amen. 

Where  is  Christ  now  ^  To-day "?  In  the 
bright  land  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  great  God,  or  riding  the  white  horse,  or 
going  here  and  there  attended  by  His  body- 
guard of  redeemed  men  who  were  found 
without  a  fault. 

And  what  shall  we  be  like,  if  faithful  to 
the  end  and  we  go  to  Heaven  *?  What  will 
our  spiritual  bodies  be  made  of?   We  know 


WHO   WAS   CHRIST?  153 

not ;  but  this  we  know,  that  we  shall  be  like 
Him! 

"•  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship 
Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth." 

What  is  a  spirit  ?  A  spirit  is  an  intelligent 
form  without  a  corruptible  substance ;  since 
the  Scriptures  repeatedly  affirm  that  God  has 
form  (inasmuch  as  portions  of  it  are  named), 
and  that  He  is  a  spirit.  What  is  that  sub- 
stance '?  We  know  not ;  but  we  know  that 
if  we  die  in  Christ  and  reach  Heaven,  we 
shall  awake  in  His  likeness,  —  we  shall  be 
like  Him. 

That  is  enough.     The  substance  of  our 
spiritualized  being  will  be  like  Christ. 
Amen. 

And  Christ  is  coming  again  to  this  very 
Earth  of  ours ! 

"  Say,  will  He  find  you  and  me  still  watch- 
ing" and  loving  His  appearing*? 

Will  He  find  faith  on  the  earth  ?  May 
it  be  answered  with  a  glorious  affirmative  in 
Los  Angeles. 


LOVE  DIVINE 


LOVE  DIVINE 

I  John  iv. 

On  Sunday  we  come  together  to  get  our 
natures  in  harmony  with  God,  Christ,  and 
each  other.  So  many  things  transpire  in 
week  days  to  disturb  our  equanimity,  we  get 
tired  and  are  tempted  to  get  cross.  People 
are  so  thoughtless  and  unkind.  I  wonder 
why  they  can't  always  do  what  we  would 
like  them  to  do.  I  wonder  why  we  can't 
always  do  what  others  would  like  us  to  do. 
Oh  yes  I  week  days  need  the  benediction 
of  a  Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  settles  many  a 
quarrel,  the  Sabbath  brings  harmony  when 
discord  prevails  on  Saturday. 

How  many  church  organizations  could 
hold  together  without  the  calming  influence 
of  the  word  of  God  ? 

Now  there  is  love  human,  and  what  is 
it  ?  It  is  preference.  I  like  this  man  better 
than  that.     It  is  a  kind  of  selfish,  although 


158  THE  BEST  WAY 

proper  love.  He  is  so  noble,  his  eyes  so 
frank  and  true.  I  could  marry  him  and  live 
in  a  hut  on  Pine  Mountain.  Oh,  she  is  so 
sweet  and  gentle,  she  is  such  a  true  woman, 
nothing  masculine  about  her.  I  could  marry 
her  and  work  my  fingers  off  to  earn  a  home 
for  her. 

Now  this  kind  of  love  is  much  to  be 
praised.  It  will  make  noble  sacrifices  and 
prove  itself  heroic.  But  yet  you  love  such 
a  one  to  please  yourself.  It  is  because  it 
delights  you. 

But  suppose  your  beloved  dies  in  the  hut 
on  Pine  Mountain,  or  in  the  cottage  by  the 
river  *?     Suppose  misunderstandings  arise  ? 

Suppose  you  are  not  married,  and  feel  at 
times,  oh,  so  lonely;  and  lack  the  fulfilment 
of  this  human  love :  for  the  human  heart  is 
made  to  love  and  desire  congenial  compan- 
ionship. What,  what  are  you  going  to  do  in 
such  cases  ? 

If  your  love  is  lost,  or  never  found? 
You  cannot  force  the  highest  type  of 
marriage. 

The  way  to  get  married  is  to  get  married 
in  the  Lord ;  and  if  you  want  to  get  mar- 
ried, ask  God  in  prayer  if  it  be  His  will  to 
find  you  a  wife  or  a  husband. 


LOVE   DIVINE  159 

But  we  clearly  see  that  human  love  is  not 
to  be  depended  on.  It  may  not  last.  The 
angel  of  death  may  carry  it  away. 

And  if  you  have  and  keep  this  human  love 
until  the  sunset  of  the  seventies,  yet  you  can 
love  your  husband  or  your  wife  better  for 
loving  God  best.  And  this  love  human  with- 
out the  love  divine,  how  is  it  going  to  bridge 
over  the  grave,  —  if  it  is  all  the  love  you 
have  got? 

Is  love  divine  your  guiding  star?  Is 
it  your  bridge  over  to  Eternity's  shore  of 
peace  ?  Will  you  get  the  best  of  the  grave, 
or  the  grave  the  best  of  you  ?  Which  will 
have  the  victory  ? 

So  it  is  very  plain  to  see  that  love  human 
is  not  enough  to  be  fortified  with  to  fight  the 
battles  of  life  and  death. 

But  to-day  I  come  bringing  tidings  of  a 
great  and  glorious  blessing,  "Love  divine, 
all  love  excelling." 

This  love  will  give  you  joy  and  a  per- 
petual honeymoon,  whether  you  are  married 
or  unmarried,  or  whether  earthly  love  fails ; 
when  you  are  lonely  you  will  yet  have  a 
spouse  and  some  one  to  adore.  You  do  not 
need  to  be  a  nun  to  be  "the   spouse   of 


i6o  THE  BEST  WAY 

Christ,"  and  since  in  Heaven  there  is  neither 
male  nor  female,  the  manly  heart  can  go  to 
Christ  as  well  as  the  womanly  heart.  The 
Virgin  is  not  needed  in  adoration  save  as  an 
example  of  fidelity  to  God  and  obedience,  in 
that  she  was  called  blessed  among  women. 

And  now,  lend  me  your  whole  hearts, 
while  I  give  you  the  well  known  definition 
of  this  love  divine,  when  the  human  heart 
gets  it. 

It  is  the  "desire  to  bless." 

What  does  that  mean  ? 

It  means  that  as  God  is  love,  and  as  every 
law  of  His  is  a  desire  to  bless  us,  so  if  we 
love  God  with  all  our  heart  and  purposes 
and  obey  all  of  His  statutes  through  Christ, 
we  shall  grow  to  be  like  the  nature  of  God 
in  His  attributes  of  love,  absorbing  them  in 
our  natures,  and  awake  some  morning  to  find 
we  have  a  portion  of  this  love  divine,  this 
desire  to  bless.     See  John  xvii.  26. 

It  means  when  you  go  to  the  breakfast 
table,  to  go  with  a  spirit  or  a  desire  to  bless 
the  others  by  your  presence  and  mind ;  when 
you  go  to  school,  to  have  a  desire  to  bless  the 
school  and  teachers,  to  make  it  harmonious ; 
when  you  go   to   the   factory,  a  desire  to 


LOVE  DIVINE      •  i6i 

bless  those  with  whom  you  come  in  contact. 
Around  the  evening  lamp,  pitching  hay,  or  in 
the  counting-room,  the  same,  always  be  gov- 
erned by  a  desire  to  bless.  "  Love  divine, 
all  love  excelling," 

The  difference  between  love  human  and 
love  divine  is  that  one  is  the  desire  to  be 
blessed  while  the  other  is  the  desire  to  bless. 

Love  human  may  die,  but  love  divine 
lasts  and  is  sure  to  live  forever. 

Love  divine  is  the  Christ-love;  it  is  the 
kind  of  love  which  is  meant  by  the  expres- 
sion "brotherly  love."  That  is  the  power 
that  builds  up  churches,  and  makes  them 
powerful  for  good.  Moody  illustrates  this  in 
a  story  about  a  boy  who  lived  in  Chicago 
and  whose  family  moved  away  from  the  part 
of  the  city  where  the  Sunday-school  he  at- 
tended was  located.  Still  he  continued  going 
to  his  old  school  which  meant  a  long  tiresome 
walk. 

They  asked  him  why  he  did  not  go  to  the 
Sunday-school  near  by  their  new  home. 
"Oh,"  he  said,  "they  love  a  fellow  over 
there." 

People  will  go  where  they  can  get  love 
and  be  loved. 


1 62  THE  BEST  WAY 

O  friend,  go  to  God,  and  the  love  He  will 
shed  abroad  in  your  soul,  and  the  radiance 
and  glory  of  His  presence  and  blessing,  will 
fill  you  with  satisfaction  and  contentment. 

"  We  know  that  we  have  passed  from  death 
unto  life,  because  we  love  the  brethren." 

So  if  we  get  this  love  divine,  we  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life.  Oh,  how  great 
and  important  a  matter  this  is.  Awake,  my 
soul  I     Awake !     Awake,  my  will  I 

If  we  all  get  this  love  divine,  what  heav- 
enly harmony  it  makes.  If  the  occupants  of 
one  home  get  it,  what  heavenly  harmony 
prevails  there.  It  is  a  foretaste  of  Heaven; 
it  is  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  man, 
love  divine,  the  desire  to  bless. 

If  you  get  this  love  divine,  you  get  within 
you  a  "  well  of  water  springing  up  into  ever- 
lasting life."  A  well  in  biblical  language 
often  means  a  spring.  In  Moses'  time,  in  the 
wilderness,  they  began  in  their  distress  to  dig 
for  water,  and  they  exclaimed,  "  Spring  up, 
O  well ! " 

Have  you  ever  seen  in  the  summer  moun- 
tains a  bubbling  spring  coming  up  with  great 
vigor,  cool  and  pure  *?  Well,  if  you  get  this 
love  divine,  you  will  have  in  you  a  constant 


LOVE  DIVINE  163 

source  of  refreshment ;  like  a  bubbling  spring 
will  be  the  water  and  influence  of  the  Christ- 
life.  You  will  have  within  you  a  well  bub- 
bling with  joy,  ever  flowing  ;  and  when  you 
are  weary,  you  can  there  find  joy. 

Be  without  this  love,  and  ye  are  "  wells 
without  water." 

"God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  Love  divine,  a  desire  to 
bless. 

This  love  divine,  this  perfect  love,  casts 
out  fear :  it  takes  away  the  fear  of  death. 
Great  love,  O  that  we  may  be  wise  and  pos- 
sess it! 

What  else  does  love  divine  do  for  us? 
See.  "Hatred  stirreth  up  strifes;  but  love 
covereth  all  sins;"  again,  "it  covereth  a 
multitude  of  sins."  Think  of  it,  —  we  shall 
not  be  remembered  by  our  sins,  but  by  the 
love  we  now  have.     Hallelujah  ! 

Come  I  not  with  good  tidings? 

"  If  we  love  one  another,  God  dwelleth  in 
us,  and  His  love  is  perfected  in  us."  Do 
you  realize  that^.  If  we  get  this  love  divine, 
God's  love  is  made  perfect  in  us.     That  is 


i64  THE  BEST  WAY 

the  purpose  of  God's  love,  to  bless  us ;  and 
in  gaining  His  love  in  us,  we  see  it  brought 
to  its  fruitage,  it  does  that  for  which  it  is  in- 
tended. Wonderful  thought!  Our  little 
hearts  the  places  of  fruition  of  God's  bound- 
less love,  the  place  for  its  full  and  complete 
development !  In  other  words,  God  needs 
us.  Amazing  thought !  His  love  is  bound- 
less, and  He  needs  all  hearts ! 

Such  a  greatness  in  such  a  little  space.  It 
is  just  as  the  still,  small  voice  represents  the 
mighty  voice  of  God,  "  the  best  symbol  of 
humility." 

Moreover,  thus  is  our  love  made  perfect,  if 
we  get  this  love  divine,     i  John  4,  17. 

What  else  among  the  countless  things 
does  this  love  divine  do  for  us? 

Listen ! 

"He  that  dwelleth  in  love,  dwelleth  in 
God,  and  God  in  him." 

If  we  get  this  love  divine,  which  we  can 
get  by  accepting  Christ,  by  doing  the  words 
of  Christ,  by  believing  in  Him,  then  we  can 
live  in  this  love,  which  is  dwelling  in  God, 
and  not  only  that,  but  God  dwells  in  us. 

It  is  as  if  we  lived  in  a  country,  and  that 
the  National  Spirit  of  the  country  lived  in 


LOVE  DIVINE  165 

US.  A  poor  and  limited  illustration,  but  who 
can  approach  the  greatness  of  the  truth  ? 

Love  divine  means  a  desire  to  bless.  A 
simple  illustration  of  what  love  divine  is  for 
the  children  to  take  away  in  their  minds  is 
that  of  a  mother  bird  flying  to  her  nest  on 
joyous  wings  with  a  fine  worm  in  her  mouth 
for  her  little  ones :  ah !  that  is  the  meaning 
and  emblem  of  love. 

Love  your  children,  love  your  husband, 
love  your  wife.  Love  your  associates.  Love 
your  superiors  and  your  inferiors  as  the  world 
goes.  That 's  the  way  to  be  happy.  To 
have  within  the  "  desire  to  bless," 

You  know  Christ  says  that  on  loving  God 
and  your  neighbors  as  yourself  hangs  all  the 
law  and  the  prophets.  You  see  Christianity 
is  a  religion  of  love.  This  love  divine  tells 
the  story.  Have  you  it  ?  Then  you  have 
rehgion.  Have  you  it  not?  Then  alas, 
alas !     But  you  can  get  it. 

Many  people  and  teachers  make  religion 
disagreeable,  and  drive  people  away  by 
making  it  too  much  a  system  of  "  don't  do 
this  and  don't  do  that,"  on  the  basis  of  the 
first  dispensation  of  "  Thou  shalt  not ;  "  but 
Christ's  way  of  teaching  religion  was  more 


1 66  THE  BEST  WAY 

the  way  of  love  divine ;  do  this  and  do  that, 
and  thou  shalt  be  accordingly  blessed.  He 
did  not  undo  the  law,  but  he  suffused  it  with 
love.     Witness  the  Beatitudes. 

A  good  way  to  discover  if  you  have  this 
love  divine  is  to  ask  yourself  the  question, 
what  is  your  influence  among  the  people 
of  your  home  and  the  community  in  which 
you  dwell  ^  Is  it  for  good  *?  Is  it  for  noble 
manhood  and  womanhood,  noble  and  bless- 
ing-bearing *?  Man,  dost  thou  ennoble  wo- 
men by  thy  presence  and  ways  *?  Woman, 
dost  thou  ennoble  men  by  thy  presence 
and  ways  ? 

Now  we  want  to  inquire  into  those  ways 
which  stand  in  the  way  of  getting  this  love 
divine. 

To  maintain  this  love  divine,  we  have  got 
to  get  where  Paul  climbed  —  to  learn  to  be 
content  in  whatever  condition  he  found  him- 
self. Fighting  wild  beasts  in  the  arena,  ship- 
wrecked, in  prison,  teaching  religion,  sleep- 
ing on  the  ground  or  in  his  hired  house, 
beaten  with  stripes,  hungry  or  not,  it  was 
all  the  same  with  Paul.  He  had  learned  to 
be  content.  He  was  not  naturally  content. 
When   the   thermometer   goes   to  loo,  we 


LOVE  DIVINE  167 

don't  like  it,  but  after  ten  years'  experience 
we  say,  "  That 's  all  right,  it  will  be  cooler 
in  a  day  or  two." 

What  are  your  purposes,  friend  *?  When 
the  great  searchlight  of  Heaven  is  turned 
with  its  all-seeing  rays  upon  them,  will  they 
all  pass  muster,  will  they  all  look  lovely? 
Please  make  them  so. 

If  your  "  hope  is  built  on  nothing  less  than 
Jesus'  blood  and  righteousness,"  and  your 
whole  energy  is  bent  on  getting  this  love 
divine,  you  can  bear  any  insult,  any  aggrava- 
tion, any  disappointment,  any  cross.  Why  ? 
Because  these  things  accepted  only  enrich 
your  store  of  love  divine.  They  put  no 
bars  up  against  your  heart's  desire.  They 
only  bind  you  closer  to  the  experience  of  the 
possession  of  love  divine. 

Come,  let  us  accept  this  love  divine  to- 
day. It  is  a  gift  to  us.  It  is  given  freely. 
Can  I  give  it  *?  No.  I  can  only  lead  you 
to  Him  who  will  place  it  in  your  hands. 

Come,  let  us  go  to  Christ,  believe  in  Him 
and  try  to  do  His  words,  and  the  gift  is 
yours. 

Repent,  and  be  saved  to-day. 


i68  THE   BEST  WAY 

O  Great  God,  our  Father,  to  whom  we 
pray,  great  Spirit  of  Heaven,  First  of  the 
Trinity,  in  whose  image  and  likeness  we  are 
made;  Thou  to  whom  Christ  prayed,  hal- 
lowed be  Thy  ngme,  —  hallowed  be  Thy 
name. 

As  now  the  seraphim  in  Heaven  are  prais- 
ing Thee,  saying,  holy,  holy,  holy,  —  wilt 
not  Thou  tune  our  little  hearts  to  sing  Thy 
praise  *? 

O  come,  great  God,  to-day,  and  take  away 
the  clouds  and  the  burdens ;  come  with  Thy 
power  and  set  us  all  free  from  the  power  of 
sin,  that  we  may  get  a  closer  glimpse  of 
Thy  greatness,  and  of  the  depth  of  Thy 
mercy  and  of  Thy  love.  "  Have  mercy  on 
our  weaknesses."  O  reveal  now  Thyself  to 
the  ones  that  are  waiting.  O  honor  their 
call,  as  their  cry  for  Thee  goes  beyond  the 
stars.  Ease  their  pilgrimage  as,  weary,  they 
journey  to  the  New  Jerusalem.  Be  with 
them ;  Thy  loving  presence  is  enough.  And 
as  they  go  down  through  the  valley  of 
death,  we  know  to  our  joy  that  Thou  wilt 
still  be  with  the  justified. 


A  LOST  LAW,  OR,  THE  PERFECT 
LAW   OF  LIBERTY 


A  LOST  LAW,  OR,  THE  PERFECT 
LAW  OF  LIBERTY 

James  i.   25. 

Think  not  that  I  come  to  bear  tidings  of 
a  law  that  once  brought  blessings  to  men,  but 
which  now  is  irretrievably  lost.  Nay,  I  come 
with  the  correlative  text,  "  Seek,  and  ye  shall 
find;"  with  the  explanation  that  although 
this  law  is  but  little  known,  yet  the  efBcacy 
of  its  virtues  is  as  great  and  grand  as  when  it 
was  first  proclaimed  centuries  ago. 

We  hear  of  arts  that  were  lost,  and  then 
found  again.  It  is  in  that  spirit  I  speak  these 
words  concerning  a  lost  law.  The  famous 
Toledo  blades  were  once  the  admiration  of 
fighting  Europe ;  the  steel  was  so  mysteri- 
ously tempered  that  its  strength  was  preserved, 
while  a  wonderful  bending-without-breaking 
suppleness  was  retained.  It  was  claimed  that 
men  had  lost  the  art  of  so  making  them,  until 
some  one  rediscovered  the  fact  that  they  were 
tempered  by  dipping  in  pure  olive  oil. 


172  THE  BEST  WAY 

In  the  city  of  Limoges  in  France,  a  long 
time  ago,  there  was  an  art  known  as  Limoges 
enamel,  which  consisted  of  enamelling  beau- 
tiful pictures  on  copper.  For  generations  this 
art  was  lost,  and  only  in  comparatively  recent 
times  has  it  been  refound. 

But  what  is  this  rediscovered  lost  law,  this 
"  law  of  liberty  "  ?  It  is  a  law  under  which 
you  are  free  from  depressing  care,  by  which 
you  can  cast  your  care  on  Christ ;  it  is  to  be 
free  from  the  power  of  sin,  since  Christ  has 
conquered  sin,  and,  having  Christ  within,  you 
also  can  overcome  evil.  It  is  to  be  free  in 
mind ;  not  to  have  the  brain  under  pressure 
nor  your  body  under  wrought-up  conditions, 
but  to  be  calm  within ;  since  trusting  in  God, 
which  is  a  condition  of  this  lost  law,  brings 
about  this  wonderful  peace. 

This  liberty  can  be  had  alone  of  God 
through  Christ,  for  no  one  else  has  it  to  give. 
It  is  divine,  and  must  come  from  God.  It  is 
liberty  gained  through  obedience  to  the  law 
of  Christ. 

The  opposite  of  liberty  is  slavery ;  there- 
fore if  you  are  not  free  in  Christ,  alas  I  are 
you  not  more  or  less  a  slave  of  Satan"?  And 
more  or  less  a  slave  to  the  power  of  sin? 
And  it  is  woe  unto  such  slaves. 


A  LOST  LAW  173 

Liberty  without  restraint  is  not  liberty,  but 
license,  and  license  is  clanger  in  disguise.  If 
you  say,  I  like  liberty  without  law,  be  not 
deceived,  for  there  is  no  liberty  without  some 
law.  Would  a  sea  captain  go  to  sea  without 
his  instruments  of  navigation,  his  compass 
and  quadrant  *?  No,  he  must  keep  his  course 
within  the  restraint  these  instruments  dictate ; 
yet  such  restraint  is  a  blessing  to  him  and 
will  bring  him  to  his  port.  Sail  the  seas  of 
life  without  a  Bible,  without  God's  law,  and 
thus  be  free  from  saving  restraint,  and  how 
canst  thou  find  thy  way  to  Heaven  through 
gales  and  tempests  ?  Be  not  deceived,  thou 
canst  not. 

This  law  of  liberty  Is  sometimes  expressed 
by  the  word  sanctification ;  it  is  also  desig- 
nated "  the  second  blessing."  Many  reli- 
gious misunderstandings  are  caused  by  the 
fact  that  while  people  are  arguing  and  differ- 
ing they  sometimes  mean  the  same  thing  in 
their  souls,  but  use  different  words  to  express 
it,  and  not  being  used  to  such  differences  of 
expression,  they  are  perplexed  and  sometimes 
offended. 

"The  perfect  law  of  liberty"  is  a  law,  just 
as  we  say  the  law  of  gravitation  or  that  gravi- 


174  THE   BEST   WAY 

tation  is  a  law.  But  note  this,  —  the  law  of 
gravitation  may  be  hindered,  stopped,  or  inter- 
fered with.  A  boy  throws  a  ball ;  by  the  law 
of  gravitation  it  would  fall  to  the  ground ; 
another  boy  catches  it  and  hinders  the  law 
from  working. 

Not  so  is  it  with  the  law  of  liberty.  Note 
this :  it  is  called  "  the  'perfect  law."  If  you 
seek  to  do  the  precepts  of  Christ,  no  one  can 
prevent  the  law  from  acting  in  the  resultant 
blessing  of  liberty  of  the  soul.  If  a  man  is 
killed,  like  Stephen,  while  serving  God,  this 
law  is  not  hindered,  but  proven  in  a  still 
more  glorious  way;  the  man  is  promoted 
into  a  security  of  perpetual  enjoyment  of  the 
law  of  liberty. 

We  need  this  liberty  of  the  soul.  By  it 
we  can  overcome  physical  and  temporal  op- 
pressions, and  rise  above  the  disappointments, 
attacks  and  assaults  of  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  Devil.  We  need  this  liberty  !  Oh, 
we  do  need  it !  We  need  it  every  hour ; 
moment  by  moment,  we  need  it. 

Let  us  again  remember  that  this  liberty  is 
a  law;  it  is  the  result  of  certain  action  on  our 
part.  It  is  definite.  We  say  steam  produced 
by  heating  water  in  a  boiler  is  a  law.     So 


A   LOST   LAW  175 

if  we  seek  Christ  and  do  His  words,  we  shall 
have  Uberty.  It  is  a  perfect  law.  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord ,  God  has  come  upon  us, 
anointing  us  "  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap- 
tives "  bound  in  sin  and  in  infidelity.  The 
Liberty  Bell  in  Philadelphia,  which  rang  out 
the  independence  of  our  country  to  the  world, 
bears  the  scriptural  words,  "  Proclaim  liberty 
throughout  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof"  This  is  temporal  liberty,  but  I  bring 
you  still  greater  good  tidings  of  that  perfect 
liberty  of  the  soul  which  shall  secure  you 
blessings  not  only  in  this  world,  but  in  the 
world  to  come. 

One  way  of  telling  whether  you  have  this 
law  of  liberty  is  by  examining  yourself  to 
see  if  you  love  everybody. 

Another  way  by  which  you  can  better  tell 
if  you  are  in  this  divine  law  is  this :  Christ 
has  said  that  if  a  man  love  Him  and  keep 
His  words,  God  and  He  Himself  will  come 
and  make  their  abode  with  him.  Not  only 
come,  but  come  to  stay !  Have  they  come 
into  you'?  Have  they  stayed  *?  No?  What's 
the  matter,  then  *?  The  law  never  fails ;  its 
action  is  perfect.  Ah  I  it  is  we  that  fail  to 
keep  the  words  —  we  that  are  imperfect. 


176  THE  BEST  WAY 

"  Yes,"  says  one,  "  they  came,  but  they  did 
not  abide.  It  was  my  fault.  I  did  not  con- 
tinue the  conditions  of  their  coming.  I  did 
the  words  of  Christ,  but  I  did  not  keep  doing 
them." 

Such  people  know  God,  but  He  is  so  far 
away  from  them !  He  is  not  near.  Oh,  keep 
Him  near  by  keeping  the  words  of  Christ. 
Let  Christ  be  the  one  vital  principle  of  your 
life.  Seek  Him,  talk  to  Him,  obey  His  words, 
and  He  will  come  near  you  and  usher  God 
Himself  into  your  life,  and  they  will  abide 
with  you  and  proclaim  liberty  unto  you,  a 
new  and  necessary  divine  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence to  your  life. 

So  come  and  be  free. 

I  will  tell  you  one  reason  why  it  is  good  to 
be  free  —  to  have  the  freedom  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  —  because  then  you  have  God,  — 
the  Triune  God, — Father,  Saviour,  Com- 
forter, a  sympathizer,  one  who  knows  what 
you  know.  Ah  !  that  is  a  great  thing  to  have. 
When  people  accuse  you  falsely,  slander  you 
unrighteously,  forsake  you,  misunderstand 
you,  think  you  are  a  coward  when  you  are 
brave,  oh !  then  to  be  able  to  know  God  and 
to  say  to  Him,  "  O  God,  Thou  knowest,  and 


A  LOST  LAW  177 

I  know.  With  Thee  to  sympathize  and  be- 
lieve in  me  I  can  stand  their  sarcasm."  Aye, 
a  man  can  do  all  things  when  Christ  strength- 
ens him. 

Hundreds  of  suflferers  there  are  to-day  who 
are  misunderstood,  and  receive  no  compas- 
sion from  men.  It  is  awful  to  be  without 
sympathy,  human  and  divine.  But  to  be 
without  human  sympathy,  and  know  not 
God,  oh!  that  is  awful.  But  if  such  a 
man  knows  God  under  the  law  of  liberty, 
he  can  find  rest  in  such  a  prayer  as  this :  "  O 
God,  Thou  knowest  my  pain,  my  suffering 
in  the  body,  which  the  world  cannot  see. 
Though  my  cheek  is  pink  and  my  eye  bright, 
yet  the  fearful  pain  is  there.  My  associates 
understand  me  not,  and  think  me  lacking  in 
spirit.  They  pass  me  by  like  the  Levite,  but 
Thou  art  my  Good  Samaritan,  Thou  dost 
pity  me." 

Aye  !  it  is  good  to  have  God ! 

So  felt  the  Southern  negroes  in  ante-bel- 
lum days,  when  in  groups  about  their  cabins 
they  would  sing  in  their  physical  slavery,  in  a 
chorus  of  spiritually  free  voices,  the  words :  — 

**  Nobody  knows  the  trouble  I  'se  feeling, 
Nobody  knows  but  Jesus." 


178  THE   BEST  WAY 

One  thing  we  should  carefully  avoid  in 
seeking  the  law  of  liberty.  We  should 
beware  lest  Satan  tempt  us  by  saying,  "  You 
could  make  a  success  of  it  if  your  physical 
condition  were  not  so  weak  :  just  think  what 
you  could  do  if  you  were  in  perfect  health, 
or  if  you  were  in  different  circumstances  or 
surroundings,  or  had  a  better  education." 
That  is  Satan. 

Ah  I  friend,  we  have  got  to  find  the  law 
of  liberty,  and  be  free  under  our  present 
conditions  and  surroundings.  We  may  not 
have  rations  of  boned  turkey  and  guava  jelly 
when  we  become  soldiers  of  the  Cross.  God 
wants  soldiers  who  can  fight  on  hard-tack 
when  the  fight  is  upon  us.  He  is  training 
us  for  the  skies.  He  wants  no  more  citizens 
in  Heaven  who  would  do  as  Satan  did,  who 
once  was  an  angel  of  light,  disobeyed  God, 
and  was  cast  out,  only  to  be  an  enemy  of 
Heaven. 

God  wants  soldiers  who  will  mind  the  first 
time,  and  now,  no  matter  what  the  condi- 
tions. 

We  must  not  pray  so  much  to  have  our 
circumstances  changed,  but  more  that  we  may 
have  grace  to  accept  them. 


A  LOST  LAW  179 

"  Accept  them  " !  What  power  in  that 
word  "  accept "  !  It  has  been  said,  "Ah  !  if 
thou  didst  but  know  the  joy  of  an  accepted 
sorrow  I " 

Some  one  says,  "  If  I  were  in  different  sur- 
roundings I  could  get  hold  of  this  liberty 
you  preach,  but  I  can't  as  it  is.  I  have  so 
many  cares  and  sorrows.  If  I  could  have 
time  to  rest  and  have  it  easier,  with  more 
quiet  to  myself  and  less  anxiety,  I  believe  I 
could  get  hold  of  that  liberty." 

It  may  be  so ;  but,  friend,  my  counsel  is 
that  if  you  love  the  Lord,  He  will  not  per- 
mit you  to  be  tried  beyond  that  which  you 
are  able  to  bear ;  and  that  your  only  hope  of 
finding  this  precious  liberty  is  to  expect  to 
find  it  where  you  are,  by  cultivating  the 
ground  whereon  ypu  stand,  by  bending  your 
will  till  it  blends  with  God's  will,  and  by 
saying  "amen"  to  your  present  troubles. 
Under  that  heavy  burden  lies  the  lost  prize, 
the  lost  law  of  liberty.  In  that  way  you  can 
find  it. 

And,  invalid,  awake  to  the  bright  side  of 
thy  condition  !  It  is  no  small  privilege  to 
live  with  eternity  ever  brought  so  near  thy 
mind,  owing  to  thy  weakness.    The  strong  in 


i8o  THE  BEST  WAY 

their  strength  are  apt  to  forget  to  lean  on  the 
Everlasting  Arms. 

But  who  ever  got  hold  of  this  perfect 
law  of  liberty  *?  Oh,  thousands  have,  from 
Enoch  down  to  some  humbler  heart  here. 
But  I  will  tell  you  a  good  example  :  that  is 
Job! 

Every  living  soul  ought  to  study  Job  and 
know  Job's  experience,  just  as  much  as  and 
more  than  he  should  study  the  multipli- 
cation table.  In  the  dark  days  a  remem- 
brance of  how  Job  won  the  fight  will  be  like 
a  reinforcing  army  to  you  in  your  distress. 

Well,  let  us  consider  Job. 

Now  Job  got  into  the  law  of  liberty. 
Listen  to  how  he  did  it :  — 

Job  was  a  good  man,  pure,  honest,  bene- 
volent. He  was  practically  a  man  of  God,  as 
far  as  any  outward  signs  went.  God  loved 
him  and  wanted  him  to  be  so  completely 
good  that  He  could  trust  him  anywhere,  and 
that  after  death  He  could  have  him  to  reign 
with  Christ  in  the  Heavenly  Lands.  So  He 
doubtless  told  Job  again  and  again  that  he 
must  rid  himself  of  some  of  his  secret  faults. 
But  Job  had  one  fault  that  he  did  not  get 
rid  of,  I  think. 


A  LOST  LAW  i8i 

God  had  tried  loving  counsel;  it  failed. 
There  was  nothing  left  but  chastisement. 
And  Job  was  so  good  and  brave  that  no 
small  calamity  would  effect  the  removal  of 
the  stain  on  his  heart.  Nothing  but  a  severe 
succession  of  calamities  would  avail.  Here 
they  come  I  Leprosy,  his  wife  turned  against 
him,  his  children  cruel  to  him,  his  cattle  and 
herds  taken  from  him,  his  friends  reviling 
him  because  he  had  preached  religion  and 
told  them  how  God  would  stand  by  His  own 
and  make  their  paths  those  of  pleasantness 
and  peace,  and  now^  —  how  had  his  God 
treated  him  ?  Ah,  that  was  harsh  for  poor 
Job.  See  him,  foul  with  disease,  bereft  of 
family  affections,  his  property  gone,  and  his 
one  hope  in  God  assailed  I  O  God,  come 
to  his  help  I  O  God,  remember  how  much 
Job  proved  for  Thee  !  Remember  his  alms 
and  his  honorable  career  I 

Now  wait  a  moment. 

I  do  not  believe  that  leprosy  came  on  Job 
because  he  had  sinned  against  the  laws  of 
purity.  I  think  it  was  like  the  blind  one  in 
Christ's  day,  of  whom  He  said  in  reply  to  an 
inquiry.  Neither  did  this  man  sin,  nor  his 
parents,  but  his  blindness  came  upon  him 


i82  THE   BEST  WAY 

that  God  might  be  glorified  by  a  miracle 
which  was  to  follow,  —  his  cure. 

So  with  Job.  Innocence,  or  practical  in- 
nocence, sometimes  suffers,  but  out  of  the 
suffering  grows  the  graceful  tree  of  conse- 
crated usefulness. 

"  Sorrow  never  leaves  us  where  it  finds  us." 

Now  why  do  I  tell  you  about  this  ?  It  is 
to  remind  you  that  when  tribulations  are 
about  you,  and  the  blue  sky  does  not  come 
your  way,  that  very  likely  it  is  for  your  best 
good,  and  out  of  your  distress  a  blessing  will 
be  born. 

"'Tis  against  my  sins  He  fighteth,"  we 
sing  in  our  hymn. 

Yes,  out  of  sorrow  shall  blessings  be  born. 
All  the  pearls  in  my  casket,  —  where  did  I 
get  them?  In  merrymaking  and  profit-tak- 
ing? Nay, — the  things  that  are  most  price- 
less to  me  I  got  down  in  the  shadows  of 
sorrowing,  in  the  depths  of  distress,  when  I 
trained  myself  to  say  "amen,"  and  rose  above 
temptation. 

But  Job  is  sitting  there,  foul  with  leprosy, 
deserted  by  his  family,  bereft  of  his  property, 
and  in  the  presence  of  some  reviling  infidels 
who  have  watched  his  career.    Now  they  are 


A  LOST  LAW  183 

delighted  to  see  him  in  deep  distress.  "Ah," 
they  think,  "  his  God  has  forsaken  him ;  it 
is  better  to  think  as  we  do  and  be  infidels." 
And  they  turn  to  Job,  and  say,  "  Why  don't 
you  curse  God  and  die  *?  "  And  Job  in  his 
agony  of  mind  may  have  been  tempted  of 
Satan  to  accept  their  advice,  but  God  loved 
Job  and  He  was  by  his  side ;  He  would  not 
suffer  him  to  be  tempted  beyond  his  abiHty. 
So  the  angel  of  the  Lord  that  encamps  around 
those  that  fear  Him  said  to  Job  in  a  still 
voice,  "  Cease  not  to  praise  God,  Job,  this  is 
for  some  wise  purpose." 

"  Curse  God  and  die,"  they  cry  to  Job. 
In  this  spirit,  men  in  the  store,  on  the  street, 
or  in  the  train,  speak  to  many  a  man  when 
seeking  to  draw  him  away  from  his  vows  to 
Christ. 

"  Curse  God  and  die ; "  but  God  says  to 
Job,  "I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake 
thee,"  or  words  of  like  avail. 

But  still  these  wicked  men  taunt  Job  with 
his  leprosy  and  his  bad  luck,  as  men  foolishly 
say,  and  drive  poor  Job  almost  distracted; 
and  then,  in  the  supreme  test  put  upon  him, 
the  Lord  Himself,  I  think,  came  to  Job  and 
said  to  his  soul,  "  I  will  stand  by  you."     At 


i84  THE   BEST  WAY 

that,  Job  in  his  misery  of  body  faced  his 
revilers,  and  cried  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Though 
He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him." 

Ah,  that  was  one  of  the  most  majestic  mo- 
ments since  creation ! 

Just  think  what  faith  and  trust  it  required 
for  Job  to  say  that;  but  still  his  leprosy  is 
upon  him.  It  don't  go  away.  His  beset- 
ting sin  evidently  was  not  a  lack  of  trust  in 
God. 

Take  off  your  shoes,  we  are  approaching 
holy  ground ! 

Now,  as  Job  feels  in  his  soul  the  presence 
of  God  and  realizes  the  companionship  of 
our  Lord,  he  gazes  upon  the  reviling  infidels 
before  him,  and  a  great  pity  for  them,  igno- 
rant of  God,  comes  upon  him.  And  out  of 
that  pity  love  is  born,  "  love  divine,  all  love 
excelling."  And  the  love  of  God  is  so  greatly 
shed  abroad  in  his  soul  that  in  another  su- 
preme moment  of  holy  experience  he  loves 
these  men,  his  enemies,  and  prays  for  them. 
Methinks  presently  Job  forgave  and  loved 
all  his  enemies;  all  those  who  had  reviled 
and  slandered  him,  all  who  had  cheated  him 
in  business,  or  who  had  borne  false  witness 
against  him.     He  loves  his  enemies  now ! 


A  LOST   LAW  185 

But  what  is  happening  now?  Behold  the 
astonished  faces  of  those  infidels  I  Job's  lep- 
rosy is  departing.  His  skin  is  becoming  pink 
and  white,  like  that  of  a  youth.  The  inflam- 
mation has  gone.  Ah !  now  I  surely  know 
Job's  besetting  sin ;  I  think  he  did  not  really 
love  his  enemies,  nor  pray  for  them.  This 
is  what  God,  in  his  love  for  Job,  was  after. 
Now  good  Job  is  ready  to  live  and  ready  to 
die,  and  to  be  promoted  when  his  time  shall 
come. 

But  what  is  this,  —  what  is  this  dust  in  the 
distance?  It  must  be  a  mighty  herd  of 
cattle  coming!  Behold  all  of  Job's  live-stock 
is  coming  back  to  him ;  only  —  what  can  it 
mean?  There  is  a  herd  twice  as  large  as 
he  had !  The  infidels  are  converted,  I  think, 
by  the  miraculous  change  in  Job's  condition 
and  property. 

And  Job  is  full  of  joy,  but  in  his  honest 
heart  he  exclaims,  "  These  cattle  are  not  all 
mine,  nor  all  these  camels.  Such  camels  I 
never  saw !  See  that  magnificent  specimen, 
—  the  finest  camel  that  ever  bore  a  burden 
for  man ! " 

Thereupon,  one  of  the  former  revilers  ex- 
citedly called  out,  "  Yes,  Job,  they  must  all 


i86  THE   BEST  WAY 

be  yours;  for,  see,  every  one  of  them  has 
your  mark." 

Job,  perceiving  this,  with  reverent  voice 
may  have  said,  "  This  is  the  Lord's  doing ; 
blessed  be  His  name." 

Now  notice  one  thing.  When  Job  had 
proved  that  he  would  praise  God  no  matter 
what  came,  and  would  really  love  his  enemies, 
God  gave  him  back  his  blessings  of  health 
and  prosperity ;  but  his  afflictions  of  rebel- 
lious wife  and  cruel  children  are  not  men- 
tioned as  having  been  brought  back  upon 
him.  Methinks  Job  proved  so  much,  that 
God  tried  him  no  longer. 

Friend,  think  not  that  I  have  meant  to 
overstep  the  bounds  of  Scripture  in  the  above 
relation.  It  is  meant  only  to  explain  what  I 
believe  to  be  the  deep  things  of  the  Book  of 
Job.  Yes,  —  Job  got  hold  of  the  law  of 
liberty.     Job  is  my  hero. 

So  Christ,  as  Job  did,  before  his  final 
triumph  of  the  spirit,  groaned  aloud  in  His 
agony,  "  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
me  ?  Nevertheless  Thy  will,  not  mine,  be 
done.  It  was  for  this  hour  I  came  into  the 
world."  So,  friend,  may  it  not  be  that  it  was 
to  be  purified  and  refined  and  cultivated  for 


A  LOST  LAW  187 

Heaven  that  you  and  I  came  into  this  world, 
—  to  be  fitted  for  the  next  ?  If  we  would 
share  the  glories  of  Christ,  we  must  also  share 
His  sufferings.  Not  otherwise  can  I  under- 
stand the  mission  of  tribulations. 

Ah  !  I  rejoice  that  I  have  shared  some  of  the 
sorrows  of  my  Master. 

But  to  pass  nothing  by  that  would  espe- 
cially hinder  our  gaining  this  law  of  liberty, 
it  is  necessary  to  probe  very  deep  into  our  heart 
of  hearts  to  discover  the  controlling  motive 
of  our  Christian  life.  What  is  your  motive 
in  being  good  and  in  doing  good  ?  If  your 
motive  is  solely  to  get  pure  and  straight  with- 
out thought  of  helping  others  to  Heaven :  if 
your  motive  is  to  gain,  by  righteousness,  a 
beautiful  place  in  the  world,  to  be  loved  and 
respected  by  others  for  your  purity  and  your 
honesty,  such  motives  will  fail  you  and  be 
found  wanting  when  you  seek  a  divine  mem- 
bership in  the  fellowship  of  the  law  of  liberty. 
God  will  not  give  such  the  sanction  of  His 
full  support.  Such  motives  may  wither  and 
die.  There  is  no  real  unselfishness,  the  water 
of  life,  at  their  roots. 

But  what,  then,  shall  a  man's  motive  be  *? 
A  Scotchman  answered  that.      When  asked 


i88  THE   BEST  WAY 

what  his  business  was,  he  replied,  "  My  busi- 
ness is  to  glorify  God,  but  I  peg  shoes  for  a 
living."  That  is  the  secret  of  admittance  into 
the  privileges  of  the  law  of  liberty.  That  is 
the  keynote  which  preludes  the  harmony  of 
inspiration,  —  to  glorify  God  by  being  pure 
and  unselfish  and  Christlike ;  not  for  self-satis- 
faction or  good  report  among  men  or  neigh- 
bors. This  motive  God  will  seal  with  His 
divine  approval,  and  great  peace  and  joy  and 
honor  from  above  will  be  that  man's  portion. 
Do  you  remember  John  v.  44,  which  reads, 
"  How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  honor 
one  of  another,  and  seek  not  the  honor  that 
cometh  from  God  only  ?  " 

John  Wesley  went  about,  during  the  first 
years  of  his  ministry,  almost  fruitlessly,  prov- 
ing his  own  righteousness,  so  to  speak ;  but 
when  he  forgot  himself  and  sought  the  salva- 
tion of  men  for  the  glory  of  God  and  for  their 
welfare,  then  came  from  Heaven  the  fire  of 
success,  and  the  divine  approval  fanned  the 
fire  till  it  spread,  from  a  little  spark  in  Eng- 
land, to  two  continents  and  round  the  world. 

Satan  often  seeks  to  intercept  the  divine 
law  by  whispering  to  men  the  beauty  of  self- 
holiness,  whereas  the  only  holiness  possible 


A  LOST  LAW  189 

is  that  which  leaves  out  self.  Thus  is  the 
personal  element  taken  away  and  only  God 
is  left  in  its  place ;  then  men  see  God  in  you 
and  are  convicted  and  converted.  Your  Hfe 
then  is  inspired  by  the  Most  High. 

"  But,"  says  one,  "  is  it  not  enough  to  live 
true  religion  by  visiting  the  widows  and 
fatherless  in  their  affliction  and  to  keep  one's 
self  unspotted  from  the  world  *?  " 

Yes,  indeed,  but  the  last  part  of  that  defi- 
nition of  religion  covers  the  point  I  refer  to, 
namely,  our  motive  in  being  religious  should 
be  to  glorify  God  without  being  spotted  by 
any  thought  of  the  glory  or  applause  the  world 
will  give  us.  So  Longfellow  witnessed  when 
he  said  the  right  way  to  do  one's  work  was 
to  do  the  best  we  could  without  thought  of 
fame.  This  also  strikes  the  keynote  which 
preludes  the  harmony  of  inspiration  divine. 

Ah  I  then  if  our  motive  is  solely  to  glorify 
God  by  our  sincerely  devout  lives,  then  will 
the  glory  of  Heaven  descend  upon  us ;  dove- 
like it  will  stretch  its  white  wings  of  bene- 
diction over  us  and  accompany  us  in  our 
work,  so  long  as  by  prayer  and  purpose  we 
keep  at  the  point  where  our  highest  hope  is 
to  glorify  God. 


I90  THE  BEST  WAY 

Kindly  note  that  word  "  keep."  It  has  a 
wonderful  power  in  it.  Christ  said  if  ye  love 
me  ye  will  do  my  words.  But  He  also  said, 
if  ye  KEEP  my  words,  my  Father  and  I  will 
make  our  abode  with  you. 

Let  us,  then,  glorify  God  I 

If  your  motive  is  to  glorify  God,  that  does 
away  forever  with  the  hydra-headed  monster 
named  "  fear  of  the  world."  If  such  be  your 
motive,  you  care  not  for  that  bugbear  of  the 
world,  what  it  says  or  thinks  of  you,  as  long 
as  you  do  right  and  have  God's  approval 
in  your  soul.  To  one  truly  consecrated  to 
Him,  this  fear  of  the  world  is  but  a  bugbear, 
a  bear  as  large  as  an  insect,  —  nothing  very 
terrible  when  you  analyze  its  meaning. 

When  you  make  the  motive  of  your  life 
to  glorify  God  through  Christ,  and  keep  to  it, 
then  you  have  solved  the  problem  of  life  and 
proved  the  Christ  principle. 

Thus  only  can  you  receive  the  degree  of 
a  doctor  of  the  law  of  liberty.  It  can  be  re- 
ceived in  the  hayfield  or  in  college. 

Some  one  says,  "  I  have  no  sickness,  neither 
do  I  cry.  My  barns  are  full ;  prosperity  sits 
on  my  doorstep.  I  don't  think  I  need  the 
law  of  liberty." 


A   LOST  LAW  191 

All  right,  such  a  one !  No,  forgive  me, 
you  are  all  wrong.  You  have  not  taken  into 
consideration  your  soul,  that  which  will  live 
forever.     Your  soul  needs  the  law  of  liberty. 

In  old  age  thy  strength  shall  weaken.  Then 
shall  thy  sufficiency  mock  thee ;  for  thy  suf- 
ficiency will  not  bribe  the  angels  that  guard 
the  gates  of  eternity.  Thou  needest  the  law 
of  liberty  now,  but  how  much  more  wilt  thou 
need  it  then  ? 

I  speak  now  to  those  in  sorrow.  As  a 
servant  of  the  "  Man  of  Sorrows,"  I  offer  you 
the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  which  will  make 
you  free,  and  free  indeed.  Your  sorrow  will 
flee  away. 

This  day  have  you  not  read  or  heard  some- 
thing that  gives  you  a  glimpse  of  happiness  ? 

"  Yes,"  sa^^s  one,  "  a  thrill  of  joy  awakens 
me  into  the  understanding  of  what  I  might 
be  if  I  would." 

Very  well,  then  willingly  seek  the  Author 
of  the  law  of  liberty,  and  peace  and  hope  shall 
be  thine.  Thy  joy  shall  be  fulfilled.  The 
thrill  that  came  to  thy  heart  was  a  ray  of 
God's  mercy.  Enfold  it  in  thy  heart,  and 
thou  shalt  hold  the  hope  thou  hast. 

Some  people  there  are  who  are  seemingly 


192  THE  BEST  WAY 

under  no  restraint,  and  others  who,  mistaken, 
are  under  the  letter  of  the  law,  not  discerning 
the  spirit  of  the  law.  Both  are  to  be  pitied, 
and  are  out  in  the  cold. 

It  is  the  wish  of  God  that  all  should  know 
Him,  and  be  free. 

Those  without  restraint  are  going  straight 
into  the  depths  of  eternal  bondage.  They 
cry,  "  Live  while  you  live,  for  to-morrow  you 
die."  The  death  of  these  shall  be  ever-dying, 
and  always  living  in  agony ;  no  life  in  Heaven 
shall  they  enjoy.  But  they  shall  know  that 
Heaven  is,  and  that  they  have  lost  it. 

Others  there  are  who  are  bound  by  the 
letter  of  the  law  and  have  not  been  freed  by 
the  spirit  of  the  law  of  liberty.  Such  are 
bound  by  the  infallible  laws  representing 
the  penalties  of  sin,  some  by  ill-health,  some 
by  pinching  poverty,  some  by  domestic  dis- 
tress grievous  to  be  borne,  unless  the  spirit 
of  freedom  sets  them  free. 

Yet  this  perfect  law  of  liberty  declares  all 
such  freedmen  to-day,  if  they  but  will  be  free. 
It  takes  the  hard  yoke  from  the  galled 
shoulders  and  substitutes  the  yoke  of  Christ, 
which  is  easy  and  light. 

This  law  of  liberty  declares  liberty  to  thee, 


A  LOST  LAW  193 

son  of  prosperity,  who  in  health  and  abun- 
dance yet  knowest  not  God,  the  Giver  of 
both.  Apparently  without  restraint,  thou  art 
yet  bound  with  double  thongs  of  imprison- 
ment. Oh,  I  love  such.  To  think  that  thou 
hast  everything  and  yet  hast  nothing !  If  thou 
wouldst  only  turn  thy  heart  heavenward  all 
thy  prosperity  could  be  turned  into  the  joys 
of  usefulness.  As  it  is,  will  not  thy  forces, 
which  thou  art  consuming  in  thoughtlessness, 
turn  into  a  fire  which  will  consume  thee  thy- 
self? Oh,  turn  to  God,  take  Christ  into  thy 
life,  and  thy  consecrated  prosperity  shall  bring 
thee  peace  and  safety.  If  thou  turnest  not, 
it  will  lead  thee,  unheeding,  ruthlessly  down 
the  incline  to  Hell. 

"  Turn  ye,  turn  ye.     Why  will  ye  die  *?  " 
Be  blessed  by  the  perfect  law  of  liberty. 
Enroll  thyself  among  its  sons. 

"  Oh,"  another  says,  "  I  am  free  enough. 
I  don't  think  I  will  bother  about  this  law  of 
liberty  anyhow.  Someway  I  don't  like  to 
go  to  church.  I  don't  hear  anything  that 
makes  me  feel  happy,  and  sometimes,  if  the 
preaching  is  extra  good  and  has  the  right 
ring  to  it,  I  feel  condemned.  I  often  wish 
I  had  stayed  at  home  and  read  a  book." 


194  THE  BEST  WAY 

Ah !  there  *s  the  point !  You  do  need  this 
law  of  liberty,  else  you  would  not  feel  con- 
demned in  your  spirit.  Know  this,  then, 
there  is  no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Never  hear  anything 
in  church  that  gives  you  a  thrill  of  joy,  a 
feeling  of  aspiration  after  something  better, 
an  exaltation  of  hope,  a  knowledge  of  how 
to  escape  from  present  condemnation  ?  Then 
you  have  been  listening  to  the  wrong  preacher. 

Is  it  not  enough  to  create  happiness  in  you 
to  know  that  Christ  now  presents  to  you,  if 
you  will  come  near  enough  to  take  it  from 
His  own  hand,  a  passport  into  everlasting 
happiness  and  a  protection  from  everlasting 
Hell  *?  No  sickness  in  Heaven,  no  sorrow  nor 
crying,  no  disappointments  nor  misunder- 
standings; contentment,  and  your  heavenly 
wishes  gratified  forever !  Is  this,  then,  not 
enough  ?  If  you  wish  more,  you  have  it  in 
the  words,  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  inherit 
all  things."   There  is  nothing  more  than  "  all." 

Jesus  said,  "  The  truth  shall  make  you 
free."  But  I  have  seen  this  scripture  wronged, 
and  I  have  seen  men  who  have  wrested  these 
words  from  their  true  meaning  unto  their 
own  destruction. 


A  LOST  LAW  195 

This  scripture  is  akin  to  the  law  of  lib- 
erty, and  so  I  would  help  you  to  beware 
lest  you  think  those  words  of  Christ  mean 
that  the  truth  will  make  you  free  to  be  lib- 
eral, as  it  is  falsely  called,  to  believe  what 
seems  right  to  you,  perhaps,  unillumined  by 
the  Spirit-Mind.  "Liberal"  means  "fair," 
and  it  is  fair  to  expound  Scripture  only 
when  your  mind  is  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

"  Yes,"  says  Mr.  Liberal,  "  the  Bible  says 
the  truth  shall  make  me  free ;  free  to  think 
as  I  please.  Then  there  is  no  Hell,  because 
the  idea  shocks  me." 

Oh,  you  don't  say  sol  Are  you  any- 
body in  particular,  to  ruthlessly  wrest  the 
truth  from  its  pedestal  of  facts  ?  Did  you 
ever  think  tliat  "  free  "  meant  free  from  the 
power  of  sin? 

"  No  Hell  ?  "  you  say.  What  right  have 
you  to  make  such  a  statement  in  face  of  the 
Bible  saying  the  contrary  *?  Why  not  say 
"  no  Heaven,"  and  be  an  open  and  out-and- 
out  ambassador  of  Satan  ? 

"No  Hell,"  no  wrath  of  God,  no  divine 
jealousy  for  broken  laws  divine  ?  Tell  me, 
then,  why  is  an  innocent  child  born  a  con- 


196  THE  BEST  WAY 

sumptive  ?  Why  does  the  relentless  law  of 
heredity  bring  the  sins  of  the  parents  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generations? 

Ah,  God's  wrath  is  all  about  us,  as  well  as 
His  love.  It  is  stamped  on  the  countenances 
of  many  we  meet.  Believe  me,  in  all  kind- 
ness, "  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom." 

You  surely  cannot  now  say,  "  God  is  a  God 
of  love  alone." 

Be  not  deceived.     Hell  is  ! 

The  law  of  liberty  makes  us  free  and  safe 
from  the  power  of  evil,  hereafter  as  well  as 
here.  There  shall  be  no  Hell  for  him  who 
wears  at  death  the  decoration  of  the  law  of 
liberty  on  his  soul.  It  conquers  the  grave, 
and  turns  death  to  blessedness. 

"  But  is  the  soul  immortal  *? "  a  friend 
remarks. 

Yes,  it  is  immortal. 

"  Well,  I  would  like  you  to  prove  it  to 
me." 

I  will  tell  you  how  it  can  be  proved. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul  can  be  proved  to  your  con- 
•sciousness  and  to  your  satisfaction.    The  first 


A  LOST  LAW  197 

is  by  your  will  and  consent,  and  the  second, 
whether  you  will  or  no. 

The  first  proof  is,  if  you  willingly  do  or 
obey  the  teachings  of  Christ,  you  will  come 
to  realize,  and  to  your  satisfaction  know,  the 
existence  of  a  personal  God,  of  Heaven 
and  Hell,  of  your  own  soul  and  its  immor- 
tality. 

By  such  willing  obedience  your  soul  will 
be  made  alive,  which  may  now  be  dormant 
and  well-nigh  covered  up  by  the  rubbish 
of  worldliness  or  unbelief  In  obeying  the 
words  of  Christ  you  cultivate  and  educate 
that  soul  of  yours,  and  bring  it  into  its  nor- 
mal condition,  which  is  to  have  faith  in  God. 

Oh,  won't  you  turn  ?  why  will  you  die  un- 
saved ? 

The  second  proof,  whether  you  will  or  no, 
is  this :  — 

Come ;  let  us  approach  the  time  of  death, 
when  the  strength  of  your  heart  grows  weak, 
and  dissolution  is  almost  present. 

When  your  breath  gets  short,  when  you 
breathe  with  difficulty  and  are  near  the  gates 
of  death,  then  you  become  conscious  of  some- 
thing like  a  great  light  in  you ;  it  is  as  if  you 
were  turning  into  something  else. 


igS  THE  BEST  WAY 

What  is  this  light  ?  It  is  that  part  of  you 
which  is  immortal. 

Your  body  now  seems  to  fall  from  you 
like  a  discarded  garment. 

Your  intellect  seems  to  yield  its  suprem- 
acy to  the  spirit,  and  here  right  before  you 
and  in  you  and  of  you,  right  before  your  con- 
sciousness, so  that  you  are  well  aware  of  it, 
is  your  immortal  soul,  your  immortal  self,  — 
that  part  of  you  which  cleaves  the  sky  after 
death,  and  which,  endowed  with  all  sensibil- 
ity, enjoys,  if  redeemed,  a  blessed  existence 
forever. 

This  is  the  second  proof,  made  by  divine 
dictation,  whether  you  will  or  no. 

"  How  do  I  know  this  *?  "  you  ask. 

Because  I  have  been  down  into  that  coun- 
try where  breaths  come  short  and  labored,  — 
the  door  of  death,  and  I  found  it  as  I  have 
said. 

When,  on  a  bed  of  sickness,  life  grows 
dim,  the  gate  of  Heaven  seems  to  open  to 
our  redeemed  vision,  and  we  may  see  angels 
ready  to  welcome  us.  "  Crown  him  victori- 
ous !  "  they  shout.    "  Welcome  to  Heaven !  " 

But  then  the  voice  of  God  speaks  in  the 
soul  of  him  who  thought  he  would  die,  say- 


A   LOST  LAW  199 

ing,  "Not  yet;  I  am  not  yet  through  with 
you;  your  work  is  not  yet  done.  Again 
must  you  enter  the  battle  of  life  to  live  for 
Me  and  to  glorify  Me ;  and  you  shall  enrich 
your  heavenly  portion  by  suffering  yet  to 
come,  and  by  your  labor  of  love  for  Me. 
You  must  share  Christ's  sufferings,  or  you 
cannot  share  His  glory  above." 

Now  at  the  time  of  death,  the  living  spirit 
transcends  the  dying  physical,  and  its  powers 
are  undimmed  by  ordinary  limitations  as  is 
not  often  the  case  when  we  are  otherwise 
situated,  and  the  living  spirit's  vision  is 
now  uninterrupted.  Unveiled,  the  eye  of 
faith,  an  element  of  the  soul,  now  sees  with 
wondrous  clearness.  Thus  it  is  that  a  pure- 
minded  child  or  a  consecrated  adult  dying 
will  often  exclaim,  "  I  see  Jesus,"  or  "  I  can 
behold  the  Heavenly  Land."  Then  is  it 
possible  for  the  eye  of  faith  to  ascend  to 
Heaven,  in  some  small  measure,  as  the  eye 
of  God  descends  to  earth. 

Thus,  at  the  end  of  life,  does  the  spirit 
assert  its  right  .of  recognition,  whether  we 
will  or  no. 

What  is  a  spirit  when  it  goes  to  Heaven 
and  lives  ? 


200  THE  BEST  WAY 

A  spirit  is  an  intelligent  form  without  a 
corruptible  substance. 

"  You  ask  me  to  accept  Christ,  and  live  in 
this  law  of  liberty  ?  " 

Yes,  the  love  for  Christ  constrains  me  to 
love  you  and  your  welfare. 

"  I  will  put  it  off  to  some  other  time." 

Oh,  pray  do  not  put  this  matter  off.  Know 
this,  that  when  in  sickness  or  your  last  illness, 
with  the  failing  strength  of  body,  the  mind 
also,  and  your  will,  get  weak  ;  each  of  these 
is  a  servant  of  your  heart's  blood.  Your  mind 
then  finds  action  difficult.  It  cannot  grasp 
the  truth  in  Christ  as  it  can  under  stronger 
conditions.  Then  your  condemned  heart 
seeks  to  make  your  condemned  mind  get 
hold  of  the  truth  of  salvation.  It  tries,  but 
its  strength  fails  it.  God's  Spirit  shall  not 
always  strive  with  thee. 

Baffled  by  weakness,  you  perchance  will 
sink  into  the  yawning  gulf  of  insensibility, 
and  in  your  waning  consciousness  your  ear 
shall  only  hear  the  words  that  Satan  shall  say 
in  his  soliloquy,  "  Another  fool  neglected  his 
chance  to  escape  this  doom." 

Now  when,  instead  of  the  Heaven-assuring 
voice  of  God  upon  your  death-bed,  devils  sur- 


A  LOST  LAW  20I 

round  you  and  gloat  over  their  supposed  cap- 
ture of  you,  how  are  you  going  to  drive  them 
away  ?  They  hover  about  you  for  your  soul 
just  as  buzzards  hover  about  a  dying  beast, 
anxious  to  possess  it.  How  are  you  going 
to  drive  them  away?  Perhaps  you  can't. 
May  be  your  conscience  will  be  so  dead  and 
your  mind  so  weak  you  will  not  have  strength 
to  approach  the  throne  of  grace,  or  get  hold 
of  Christ,  the  Saviour. 

But  if  you  should  happen  to  have  enough 
spiritual  strength,  even  then  you  can  repent 
and  be  saved.  You  can  call  on  God,  and 
your  sincerity  will  bring  Him  very  near,  and 
the  devils  cannot  bear  the  brightness  of  His 
coming.  Like  bats  they  will  fly  away  and 
hide  in  the  dark. 

But  how  many  death-bed  repentances  think 
you  there  are,  out  of  the  whole  number, 
counted  worthy  to  enter  Heaven  ? 

One  per  cent.  ? 

I  think  that  is  a  very  large  estimate.  Can 
we  take  the  chance  of  that  one  per  cent.  *? 
Never !  The  way  for  us  is  to  make  our  peace 
with  God  now.  '''Now  is  the  appointed 
time."  When  you  are  ready  to  die  you  are 
ready  to  live. 


202  THE  BEST  WAY 

And  will  you  tell  me  this  ?  If  you  cannot 
drive  the  evil  away  now  through  a  present 
knowledge  of  God  and  His  power  within  you, 
how  are  you  going  to  drive  it  away  when  the 
devil  shall  sit  by  your  bedside,  waiting  for 
you  to  die  ?  If  you  cannot  now  drive  away 
the  evils  of  unbelief,  impurity,  selfishness, 
and  the  other  servants  of  Satan,  how  can  you 
when  you  are  in  the  weakness  of  death  ? 

So  —  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth  for  the 
perfect  law  of  liberty,  that  law  which  is  a 
passport  to  Heaven  and  a  protection  from 
Hell! 

Ho  I  Every  one  that  thirsteth  to  be  free  ! 

Ho  I  Every  one  that  is  being  chastened 
under  the  rods  of  ill-health,  of  distress  domes- 
tic or  financial  I 

Ho  !  Every  one  to  whom  the  yoke  of  dis- 
appointment is  galling  I 

Ho !  Ye  who  are  sitting  in  the  shadows  of 
great  sorrows ! 

Ho !  Ye  who  are  tired  of  sin  I 

Good  news  for  you  to-day ! 

There  is  a  way  to  be  free !  There  is  relief 
for  you !  Your  humiliation  shall  be  turned 
into  rejoicing,  and  your  distress  to  success  in 
the  spirit  of  God. 


A  LOST  LAW  203 

Come,  only  come  and  take  Christ  into 
your  life. 

Come,  only  come  and  give  your  heart  to 
God. 

Come,  in  love  I  invite  you. 

Come,  be  bom  again  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  will  then  be 
your  strength,  your  hope,  your  comfort. 

Come  under  the  wings  of  the  perfect  law 
of  liberty,  which  is  the  result  of  faith  in  and 
obedience  to  Christ;  and  your  tears  shall  be 
wiped  away,  and  a  better  smile  than  the  long- 
ago  smile  will  transfigure  your  countenance. 

"  Harden  not  your  hearts." 

Arise  and  be  free !  "  And  he  arose  and 
came  unto  his  father." 

Determine  you  will  serve  God.  Resolve 
you  will  follow  Christ.  Make  up  your  mind 
you  will  keep  the  Holy  Spirit  in  your  soul. 
And  God  through  Christ  will  save  you. 


ELECTROTYPED  AND  PRINTED 
BY   H.   O.    HOUGHTON   AND   CO. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.,  U.  S.  A. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


i-,os  Angeies 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below.                                    ' 

URC      MAR  2  9  J9^3     REC' 

Im-ii^'.     MAY   15  1SB9          , 

A1IAJ83O 

1973 

S    DEC    V75 

-'  ■  ■ ! 

^-.T>   t^ 

1-^ 

OWON     MAY13'89 
I.DIURL 

Form  L9-Series  444 

\^&- 


3  1158  00198  2320 


r»LE/>^  DO   NOT    REMOVE 
TMJS   BOCK  CARD-si 


"'RV  FACILITY 


University  Research  Library 


"y 


.j: 


